Attorney General Iver Stridiron had high praise Monday for the prosecutor and special agent in the government's case against Brian Hornby, who was convicted in Territorial Court of sexually molesting a 9-year-old girl during her vacation on St. Thomas last year.
The jury's conviction of Hornby last week is an indication of the willingness of the Justice Department to "pull out all stops" to make sure that sexual crime offenders face the consequences of their actions, Stridiron said. He said Assistant Attorney General Douglas Dick and agent Louis Penn "ought to be commended as well as those who assisted them in the case.
"The case stemmed from allegations by a then-9-year-old female that Hornby, employed by the (Wyndham) Sugar Bay Resort as a youth camp counselor, had molested her during her family's one week vacation at the East End hotel in April of 2000," Stridiron said. He said the investigation that resulted in Hornby's arrest, prosecution and conviction stemmed from the minor child's telling her parents about his conduct in the weeks that followed their vacation in the Virgin Islands.
Stridiron also had pointed words for those who questioned the Justice Department's competence and commitment to the case and to prosecuting persons who are charged with sexual crimes and domestic violence. "I must continue to restate the position of this agency: We will prosecute any defendant charged with sexual or domestic crimes to the fullest extent of the law, period," he said.
In the Hornby case, he said that far too many persons sought to intervene in the case, while others flatly suggested that outside prosecutors and the FBI needed to step into the case.
"To their credit Dick and Penn concentrated on the case, sought my advice and counsel and handled the case in the finest tradition of the V.I. Justice Department," Stridiron said.
He also revealed that both the prosecutor and special agent traveled to the mainland to interview witnesses, some from as far away as England and the northwestern United States. "If it had become necessary to do so, we would have expended whatever funds were needed to bring witnesses from any jurisdiction to support our case against Hornby," he said.
The proof is in the verdict, Stridiron said, for those who think the government is broke and does not have the know-how to mount a successful prosecution.
