A prison officer charged with an indecent assault on a woman at a popular beach told a jury on Wednesday he was innocent of any crime.
Khalil Mejia, 29, told the Grand Court that he had not assaulted the woman at Rum Point.
He insisted she was an acquaintance of a few years and that they were not close.
He added, under examination by defence counsel Amelia Fosuhene, he had never tried to start a relationship with the woman, in her 20s and who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Mejia is charged with two counts of indecent assault, alleged to have happened at the beach on 30 July 2023. He denies the offences.
He also denied he had ever made sexual advances towards the woman on the social media app Snapchat and denied any physical contact he had with her was inappropriate on the day of the alleged offences.
Mejia added that the woman had leaned her head back against his shoulder after they had gone for a trip on his jet ski and that he had put his hand on her midriff area, outside her bathing suit.
Ben Brown, for the Crown, asked the defendant how long he had known the woman.
He replied, “I can’t say exactly how long I’ve known her, but I have known her the past few years.”
Mejia said he had probably first met the woman before the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly in 2017, and had met her at Rum Point on 30 July last year, where she was on a boat with people he knew.
He added he had spoken to her for about 10 minutes and later gave her his spare lifejacket and took her out on his jet ski, where she had put her arms around him in a “bear hug” to avoid being thrown off the machine.
Mejia said he had also taken about three other women out for a spin on the high-powered jet ski.
He added he met the woman again afterwards, this time when she was accompanied by a woman friend, and they had spoken “for a couple of minutes”.
Mejia claimed he had met the woman later and that she had moved close to him.
He said that he had placed his hands on the outside of her thighs and that she was “grinding” on him.
Mejia added she did not appear to take offence or ask him to remove his hands.
Mejia said, “She was still grinding on me. Her head was on my shoulder. I believe her right hand came round the back of my head.”
He added he had only touched her over her bathing suit and in the area of her midriff.
Fosuhene asked Mejia if the woman had at any point asked to be taken back to the boat and if he had picked her up and cradled her in his arms.
He replied, “No, ma’am.”
Mejia added he had left her with her friend and “that was it”.
The court heard he was later asked to attend Bodden Town police station for an interview in connection with the allegations.
Mejia said, “At first I was shocked and really upset. I lost a lot of sleep during that time.”
Brown asked him if he was sexually attracted to the alleged victim, which he denied.
But he admitted he had told her, “your bumper looks good in the moonlight” and agreed with Brown’s statement that there had been “a degree of physical contact between you that night”.
Mejia added that “in that moment” he had been attracted to the woman.
The court also heard that the woman had cut off Snapchat contact with Mejia after the alleged assault, but he said he did not know why.
Brown asked Mejia, “You are telling this court, this jury, that, as far as you are concerned, [the alleged victim] has just made these serious allegations up?”
Mejia replied, “Yes, sir.”
The assault trial continues.
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