"...there was no consent... We had no choice when they put the barrel of a 12 gauge shotgun against me. We had no choice in the burglary, and Amy had no choice about the rape in the bathroom." 

The attackers never shot us, but they did something just as terrible. The attacker with Amy asked her once again if she had any jewelry. Cautious of robbery on our vacation, we had left our wedding jewelry at home. Amy wore only a simple elastic –the kind used to make a ponytail- on her finger as a sweet little reminder of our anniversary. Amy replied that we had no jewelry but she suggested that they could have the camera. The attackers pulled Amy out of the closet to look for the black Cannon Rebel G film camera, which in fact they had already taken before waking us up. In retrospect I believe they woke us up and roused us from bed not to look for additional items, but solely because they are sadistic.

Both men went with Amy to find the camera. As Amy looked for it something new happened: the men were abusing her by groping her and pinching her nipples painfully. Amy quietly brushed their hands off her the best she could and now she was fearful that the two men were going to rape her. Amy’s fear was grounded. One man with the 12 gauge shotgun went back to guard me at the closet, where he kept me hostage. The other took Amy to the bathroom. He raped her there. As he started raping her he said some odd things. He told her that Saint Lucia’s poor economy makes him do this. He also told Amy to think that she was “just having sex with a Caribbean Rasta man”. The consensual tone of his statement contradicted the violence and coercion of the moment, as if he were trying to minimize the wrong of his violation, and as if he had performed this crime many times before and will go on to do it again. But there was no consent. Amy and I had no choice when the two men broke into and entered our locked hotel room at two in the morning. We had no choice when they roused us from our sleep. We had no choice when they put the barrel of a 12 gauge shotgun against me. We had no choice in the burglary, and Amy had no choice about the rape in the bathroom. Amy wasn’t "just having sex with a Caribbean Rasta man”. In fact she was brutalized by a calm, cool, and experienced rapist that will go on to attack again. 

And here’s the nasty truth that can never go away: St Lucia advertises itself as a safe, beautiful, romantic haven for weddings, honeymoons and other tourism. But in fact young men, such as our attacker and the other attackers described on this web page, burglarize and rape tourists. The stories are quelled by hotel staff and politicians, and the police don't solve the crimes.

When we felt safe enough to leave our room, we went to the room of the only other hotel guests at the Mago Estate, a couple from Saint Lucia on their honeymoon. The couple woke up and called the police for us from their mobile phone. Then all four of us went to the hotel lounge and dining room where we found the two security guards sleeping like babies. One guard was asleep in the lounge’s tree house. The other was asleep on a comfortable bench. The security guards were not tied up as the attackers told us or lying dead in a pool of blood as I had feared. In all likelihood the attackers probably couldn’t find the guards because they were sleeping in such comfortable hiding spots. We woke them up. The guards never apologized and only made excuses for their uselessness when their help was most needed. 10 minutes after waking them I even had to demand that they call their supervisor. So, don't be lulled into a sense of safety when the hotel staff goes home for the night and you see the security guards staying behind. They are just men in costume who will find a safe hiding spot to sleep soundly through the night.

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