SEX PASTOR DRAMA: Hampton principal says why she attended Moravian pastor’s bail hearing

Loop
January 8, 2017

http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/sex-pastor-drama-hampton-principal-says-why-she-attended-moravian-pastor%E2%80%99s-bail-hearing

The principal of the all-girls Hampton School in St Elizabeth has sought to explain her presence at Wednesday’s bail hearing for the Moravian pastor charged with raping a 15-year-old.

Heather Murray sought to explain herself in a statement issued Thursday as she came under heavy criticism on social media after it was reported that she attended the hearing of 64-year-old Rupert Clarke in the St Elizabeth Parish Court.

“I find it necessary to set the record straight in the matter of my presence at the bail hearing of Rev Rupert Clarke,” Murray said.

“His wife has been my very good friend since we both attended Hampton School in the 1960s/70s. We are both long time educators who have been serving together for many years on several boards, committees and commissions. We are both Justices of the Peace,” she added.

“Such is the closeness of our relationship that when the news broke, I was naturally the first person to whom she turned for solace and support,” the principal added. “I have not left her side since because I know that my friend needs me. She reached out to me as a wife, mother and friend.”

Murray had come under intense criticism since attending court, with some calling for her to resign. It was also reported that she had tried to block a photographer from The Gleaner newspaper who was taking photos of the disgraced clergyman.

“We were married a year apart and our daughters were born a day apart in the same hospital. Such is the bond that we share,” Murray explained.

“My presence at the court was to be there for my friend who needed my moral support. As a wife, mother of two daughters and principal with responsibility for 1,220 young ladies, I have sought always to protect and defend them and the young children of Jamaica,” she said.

“That has not and will never change,” she added.

Clarke was offered $800,000 bail but is yet to take up the offer.

Clarke was arrested two Wednesday’s ago in St Elizabeth after he was reportedly caught in the act with the teen in his car.