JAMAICA
The Gleaner
January 6, 2017
Sherine Williams
The principal of the Hampton School, Heather Murray, has issued a statement defending her presence at the bail hearing of a Moravian minister of religion who is charged with having sex with a minor.
While outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court, Murray reportedly tried to block The Gleaner’s photographer from taking a photograph of the Moravian minister, Rupert Clarke.
Since then, Murray has faced huge public backlash, particularly from persons on social media who claim that Murray’s presence at the hearing was appalling, especially in light of her position as principal of an all-girls institution. In the statement last night, Murray sought “to set the record straight”, stating that she went to the hearing in support of the minister’s wife, who, she says, is a high-school friend of hers.
“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. 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. 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 explained in the release.
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