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Raped at a Caribbean Resort

NEWARK (CN) - A security guard at a Caribbean resort raped a guest and left her for dead, the woman claims in court.

Jane Doe sued SunSwept Resorts Limited, Barnard Properties Limited, and LeSport (St. Lucia) Ltd. dba The BodyHoliday LeSport, in Federal Court.

She claims LeSport advertises itself as being "not only safe but a place where one feels totally at home," but that after she was raped, the resort manager told her the rapist was one of his own security guards, and "admitted that there had been rumors that this guard had done something similar to a local girl previously."

Doe claims she spent seven days at BodyHoliday LeSport in St. Lucia. On the last day on her vacation, she says, she was hanging out in the clubhouse and piano lounge with friends and the resort manager, Mr. Francis. The gathering broke up around 1 a.m. and people returned to their rooms.

Doe says she was preparing for bed when she heard a knock on the door.

"That is when Ms. Doe saw her assailant for the first time, and by the look on his face she knew the situation was going to become ugly," the complaint states. "At this point, her memory starts to fade because of the beating he gave her, but she remembers fighting with him, yelling, even screaming at the top of her lungs when he got her pinned down on the bed. She tried everything to prevent the rape and to alert the management, but to no avail. When her assailant was on top of her on the bed, he tried to cover her mouth, but she kept fighting to remove his hand and scream some more; even so, no one came to help. As his assault continued, and she refused to give in, the attacker used his thumbs on her trachea and pushed down to choke her. This cut off her airflow quickly. The last thing she remembers is a curtain closing on her eyes.

"She passed out for about four to five hours and woke up around 9:30 AM the following day, Monday, August 27, 2012. Her attacker had left her for dead."

Doe had a bruised neck, missing fingernails, red eyes, a bloody nose and cuts on her finger from where her rapist tried to pry off her ring.

Upon awakening, "She called the resort concierge to report that she had been attacked, raped and, as she later realized, also robbed."

She was taken to a hospital, screened for sexually prevented diseases and prescribed two drugs, she says: one to prevent most STDs and one "to help combat possible HIV."

She claims that resort manager Francis, who is not a party to the case, "admitted to her that the resort had identified her attacked as one of their own security guards, Samuel Jemmott. He said that when she left downstairs where she had been with her friends and him, the guard saw her going her separate way and started to stalk her from the bushes. He admitted that another security guard noticed that fellow guard's behavior but failed to report it to management until sometime on Monday. Mr. Francis stated that after Jane reported her rape, management requested that all the employees report in, and that security guard perpetrator did not report right away. According to Mr. Francis, when the guard did report in, he showed signed of being in a fight, with among other things, some scratches and a split lip. Mr. Francis also admitted that there had been rumors that this guard had done something similar to a local girl previously. Mr. Francis told her that the police had arrested Mr. Jemmott and taken him to the police station."

Doe says that as a result of the attack one of her carotid arteries is blocked, putting her at risk for strokes, she has persistent headaches, petechial hemorrhages in both eyes and hearing impairment.

She seeks more than $2 million in damages for negligence.

She is represented by David Stanziale, of North Halden, N.J.

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