Prison guard is sex offender

(CNS): A prison officer is the latest public servant to be placed on required leave as an investigation gets underway that he has a previously undeclared criminal conviction. The news comes in the wake of the shocking revelations that a killer had been working for the RCIPS until his conviction for murder last week and after two senior immigration officials were suspended in the face of investigations regarding their conduct and potential abuse of office. Government officials did not give details of the suspended prison officer’s alleged crime or where it took place but said government had received an anonymous tip-off. But CNS has learned the guard is Ricardo Fischer, a Jamaican national who was a registered sex offender in the United States and deported from there in 2009

The prison has refused to confirm or deny whether Fischer is the guard that has been suspended but CNS has been able to confirm his identity. Neil Lavis, the prison boss said that "Until I have finished the investigation I would not wish to comment further."

However given that Fischer's offence is recorded on-line at the Homefacts website it should not prove too difficult for the prison officials to conclude the investigation, shortly.

Announcing the guard's suspension Thursday morning the prison stated:

“An anonymous source recently alerted the prison management that an officer in their employment may have a criminal conviction stemming from an incident that occurred over a decade ago,” the spokesperson for the prison stated.  “A decision has been taken to suspend the employee pending a full investigation of the matter.”

The fact that a probe is now underway gives rise to concerns that the background checks may not have been conducted at the time the officer was recruited and the prison has not said when he was employed.

This latest news come at a time when the police commissioner is under serious pressure to resign having employed a man who had been under investigation regarding a police execution-style killing in Jamaica and who was charged with murder just two months after joining the RCIPS and being placed in the Armed Support Unit.