Monrovia – Heavily guarded by armed men behind closed door, disgraced Grand Gedeh lawmaker, Morais Waylee waited for more than five hours, waiting for journalists who have trooped the Liberia National Police Headquarters to leave before coming out.

Report by Lennart Dodoo, ldodoo@frontpageafricaonline.com and Bettie Johnson-Mbayo, bettie.johnson@frontpageafricaonline.com

He has been at the center stage of an ongoing investigation into an alleged rape involving a 13-year-old, 4th grade girl – his niece.

The rape resulted in pregnancy.

Rep. Waylee has constantly denied the crime and knowing the survivor.

However, Police investigation has unearthed that the girl was a ward of the lawmaker.

Police have charged him with criminal conspiracy, tampering with a criminal investigation and tampering with witnesses.

He was taken to the crime laboratory where his finger prints were scanned before he was taken to one of the offices at the headquarters where he remained for more than six hours.

“We have officially charged Hon. Waylee because we found out that Suspect Waylee and his wife, Williette Waylee, know ***** [the survivor] but denied ever seeing both her and Saydee Barway who is the uncle of the girl.

Police investigators discovered that Saydee is a driver of suspect Waylee and he and his wife denied knowing Saydee Barway,” Col. Coleman added.

According to him, “There are elements that we need to charge him for rape but until we have all of the evidence we can’t charge him for rape.

He denied knowing the victim, but the investigation has discovered that the victim lived with him and his wife.”

The Police Inspector General noted that the survivor is currently considered missing.

“We have spoken with neighbors and they have decided to testify until she can be found, this all we can say.”

“We were able to find the school and the time she lived with him; we are concern that a teenager is missing and we haven’t heard from the victim neither her family, she is a key to the investigation.” 

Some members of the House of Representatives including Rep. George Mulbah(District No. 3, Bong County); Rep. Zoe Pennue(District No. 1, Grand Gedeh) and Togba Mulbah (District No. 5, Bong County) were seen parading the corridors of the Police Headquarters, going in and out of the guarded room in which Waylee was held.

It is not clear what their presence at the LNP Headquarters was about.

Up to press time Thursday evening, FrontPageAfrica was unable to ascertain whether Rep. Waylee was released to his lawyers or held in Police detention.

In May, FrontPageAfrica upon a visit to Grand Gedeh County in search of the survivor discovered that she had been taken to a village in Konobo District.

This paper reported that she barred from speaking to strangers and residents of the District have also been threatened by local authorities not to speak to any stranger concerning the case.

The girl was taken to the Sande Bush reportedly by her mother upon realizing she had spoken to our reporter.

On Wednesday, Sexual and Gender Based Violence investigators saidy they had to flee Konobo after they were informed by county authorities that they needed the blessings of traditional leaders before continuing with the alleged rape investigation in the county.

According to the Director of Sexual Gender Based Violence crimes unit Cllr. John Gabriel, they had gone to Konobo to ascertain the true location of the victim and her state of being.

He told journalists in Monrovia that it has been difficult gathering information in the case as many residents in the county remain tight-lipped.

“He told me that anyone who goes Konobo without his blessing will be at their own risk,” he stated.

Cllr. Gabriel revealed that the state has seen a crime against the 13 year old victim and is expected to bring the suspect to justice.

“Though we have not receive complaint from the family on the whereabouts of the 13 year old victim that was abused by senior government official, the state has not receive any formal complaint, and we see there are forces responsible and we are fighting those forces,” he said.

Monrovia – The President of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) is encouraging the family of the 13-year-old who had a baby after she was allegedly raped by Rep. Morais Waylee, to report the case to Police.

Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, bettie.mbayo@frontpageafricaonline.com

“No one is above the law and at the appropriate time if they are supposed to go to court, they will go, but first the family must come forth and confide in us,’’ said  AFELL President, Attorney Vivian Neal.

In May, FrontPageAfrica quoting family sources reported that Waylee, who represents Grand Gedeh District #2, had sex with the teenager when she lived with him at his home in Kings Farm.

Madam Neal said she was saddened by the wave of rape cases in Liberia.

FrontPageAfrica traveled to Grand Gedeh two weeks ago to find the teenager.

The teen refused to talk about what happened to her because her parents ordered her not to talk to strangers.

Without the family’s complaint or the victim’s testimony, it will be difficult to prosecute the case, Neal said.

“It’s an allegation and we hope that the complainant and the victim can come forth,” she said.

“Rape is an evil crime and those unscrupulous people should be brought to justice because it has the propensity to leave the psychological wound in the mind of the victim,” Neal said.

Rapists who are caught should not be allowed to roam the streets, she said.

AFELL puts a lot of pressure on the government to prosecute rape cases, especially when the victims “confide in us.’’

“We help the Ministry of Justice to prosecute, and this is what we want the 13-year-old’s family to do,’’ she said.

Prosecutors, she said, cannot proceed without a defendant and complainant. If the parents come forward, AFELL will help take the case to court, she said.

“Let the parents come forward,’’ she said.

‘’We encourage them to come. We can’t take the case to court without a complainant.”

Authorities, she said, cannot force Waylee to bring the girl because he would be incriminating himself.

“You can’t ask somebody to incriminate themselves, it is unconstitutional,’’ she said. 

“We can’t ask him to bring the girl forward, the parents must come forth and we will be to the forefront of the case.”

The state needs a prime witness to prosecute, she said.

 “We encourage them because we want to discourage people who compromise cases,’’ Neal said. “Rape is not a taboo anymore, perpetrators shouldn’t go without punishment.’’