Former Sandals butler, Moral Adderley, who is at the centre of a sexual assault lawsuit against the resort in the Bahamas, said in a weekend interview that the bride to be who is his accuser asked him for a hug.
In the exclusive interview with Eyewitness News in the Bahamas, Adderley suggested that the $30 million lawsuit filed by America nationals Ashley Reid Pascarella and her husband John Pascarella against Sandals was part of a gimmick.
According to the news reports, court documents allege that Adderley entered the couple’s bedroom and proceeded to take sexual liberties with her, including fondling and groping the woman.
The husband to was said to have been in the bathroom at the time.
The incident allegedly took place on the night of April 15, 2016, the eve of the couple’s wedding.
Adderley has denied he claims made against him.
He told Eyewitness News that the couple always commended him on the service he provided as a butler and introduced him to their entire family who were in the Bahamas for the wedding to let them know what a ‘wonderful butler’ he was.
Adderley, who had a number of awards he had been given by Sandals for outstanding work on display during the television interview, recalled that after a cocktail party, the couple said they would turn in for the night.
He said the husband to be asked him to bring a couple of bottles of water.
Adderley said after obtaining the water he observed protocol by knocking on the door to the couple’s room and asserting his name as the butler.
“Within a few seconds, if there is no answer, then you enter the room,” the former butler disclosed.
He told the television station that in this case, the husband to be opened the door.
“I then asked him where would he like me to place the bottles of water. He said I could place it on both ends of the bed.”
According to Adderley, the wife to be was laying on the bed, awake.
He said he asked her whether she was happy about getting married, to which she replied in the affirmative.
He said before leaving the room he asked her whether she wanted to place a breakfast order which she did.
“As I proceeded to take the breakfast order she said ‘Moral, you are the best. Can I have a hug before you leave?'” Adderley disclosed.
He explained that the husband to be was in the bathroom area at that time.
Adderley observed that the butler suite at Sandals is small.
“It’s really small so one can see what another one is doing at all given times and like I said, he was in the bathroom area and when I hugged her, he walked out and when he walked out I said ‘Mr. Reid, would you like to place a breakfast order as well?’ He said ‘Sure’.”
“After I took his breakfast order, he let me out of the room. There was never any issue.”
Adderley told Eyewitness News that as he was completing his duties that night, he heard a big commotion outside the butler lounge.
“I walked out and I saw Mr. Reid. I said ‘Mr Reid, is everything okay?’ He said ‘No. Everything is not okay. My wife said you touched her butt’. I said ‘That’s obscene. Your wife asked me for a hug.”
Adderley pointed out that it would be hard for him to touch someone’s butt while they were sitting on a bed and he is hugging them.
He said the next morning he was asked to see the General Manager of the resort.
Adderley told Eyewitness News that the resort told him to make a report to the police station, not knowing that when he left Sandals he had been fired ‘immediately’.
“They never took a statement from me. I was fired immediately.”
He recalled that the driver manager and the butler manager drove him to the police station.
“I never made a report. I got arrested immediately after walking into the station. I never had a fair opportunity,” the former butler told Eyewitness News.
He lamented that Sandals took the oath of their guests over one of their star employees who had won numerous awards and did the best he could for the resort.
Adderley is reported to have pleaded guilty to indecent assault in a Magistrate’s court.
Explaining why, he told Eyewitness News that his initial plea was not guilty.
“I made a hasty, unwise decision at the time by not taking a lawyer with me to court because I didn’t know the extent of this case,” he stated.
He explained that he was remanded to prison for three months.
Adderly explained that he is the sole provider for his family, just three months into his marriage and his father had passed away around the same time, being cremated by mistake in a body mix-up.
“There was so much going on at the time – his funeral would have been that Saturday which I initially explained to the Judge and she could not have given me bail,” he told Eyewitness News, explaining that he would have missed his father’s memorial service.
“My wife and my daughter would have been by themselves for three months because I would have been remanded,” he stated.
He observed that even if he had applied for bail he would have missed his father’s memorial, since there was never a body.
“When I made the not guilty claim and she remanded me to Her Majesty’s Prison, I asked her if I was to change my plea,” Aderley said, at this point becoming emotional and wiping away tears.
He said the Judge informed him that should he change his plea it would go on his record and he would have to pay a fine.
He said his family told him not to go that route.
But he told Eyewitness News it was easier for him to change his plea from not guilty to guilty, pay the fine and walk.
He said he pleaded guilty for the sake of his father and his family.
Tourism Observer
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