Ruel Johnson dumped by TCI …over sexual violence claims

…victim goes public with harrowing experiences

The Citizenship Initiative- co-founded by Kaieteur News Editor, Ruel Johnson has asked him to step back from the new political party over damning allegations of sexual violence and predation.

Johnson said that he has been asked by his lawyer, not to respond to the allegations made public by one of his former girlfriends- Akola Thompson. In a statement on Monday the TIC said: “Multiple posts have been brought to our attention with reference to Mr. Ruel Johnson and acts of violence, sexual and verbal. One such woman has now openly made allegations of her experiences with Mr. Johnson. TCI takes any such accusations seriously and as such we have asked Mr. Johnson to step back from any active duties in TCI while this matter is investigated by the relevant authorities,” TCI said in a statement signed by its Presidential Candidate, Rondha-Ann Lam.

Social media erupted with the allegations as Johnson ironically had gone on a campaign against former Bishop’s High School teacher, Coen Jackson over allegations of similar nature. In a statement on his Facebook page he said: “So, I’ve just been sent a very long text of a status made by Akola Thompson. Since I’m blocked from her page, I will interest of transparency, I will reproduce it here and respond.” He later said that he was advised by his lawyer not to respond on social media.

Sexual Predation
Meanwhile, in the very lengthy Facebook post, Thompson a columnist at the Stabroek News referred to Johnson as a predator who selects and targets his victims based on a specific set of criteria: backgrounds of abuse, mental health problems, experiences of neglect etc. “This isn’t done by chance. This is calculated. Vulnerable girls are more susceptible to fall for the interest of older men. Predators like to make young girls feel that they don’t normally like girls their age. There’s just something different about you, you’re so mature are things they are fond of saying. This was something Ruel would tell me frequently,” Thompson wrote.

She said Johnson had used the pretense of the writing mentor to gain access to her and would coerce her through a steady stream of alcohol and manipulation. “Guidance would be given on my work yes but he would always find some way to make sexual comments and innuendos. There was always some sexual joke to be made, some secret, some lingering look and touch. Ruel would refer to me as his “Lolita.” He recommended I read the book. I did. I couldn’t quite gather at the time or even now, what I was supposed to find endearing about the name. I would wonder years later, did he consider himself Humbert Humbert and was this reference a stark awareness of his predation? Did he, like Humbert Humbert have several young coquettes before his Lolita? I would be inclined to believe so. Because despite years of stating that he did not like young girls, upon our end there he was again with another young girl barely pass the age of consent. Predators know who to prey on. They know how often their adult interest in vulnerable children would be received.”

Thompson said as a naive child, there’s a giddiness that comes with gaining adult attention. She related that teenage brains do not finish maturing until mid-20s. “So while they may be mature in relation to their age, they are not mature enough to make decisions about intimate relationships with older partners. Predators get an ego trip from being with teenagers and depend on their naivety. They want persons who are unable to see/understand the problems they as an older person have and the manipulation tactics they use.”

“He was verbally, emotionally and mentally abusive to me throughout. He would stalk me. He would show up to my home uninvited. He would constantly go through my emails and social media. He would send nasty messages to my friends and try to isolate me from everyone. These are all tactics of abusive and narcissistic psychopaths. He would frequently wake me out of my sleep to question me about another one of his paranoid delusions concerning me. He would shout, curse. He would punch walls, slam tables and use his bodyweight and size to intimidate me into small corners of myself,” Thompson wrote.

Stalking
Thompson said when it was time to move away from Johnson he did not take kindly to it. “Ruel however, did not take too kindly to being left. He would continue to claim me as his for well over a year. When I was selected to go to Carifesta, he upon finding out I was with someone else, would try to bar me from going, stating it had to do with timelines and not his possessive need for control over me and everything I did. On the Carifesta trip itself, he would arrange with my roommate (without my knowledge) to exchange rooms so that he could come and sleep in my room. I spent the rest of my time sleeping elsewhere as I did not trust him and his stability.”

“These are just a few personal recounts of the dangerously toxic predator that Ruel is. There are many more stories that are simply not mine to tell. At the end of all of these physical/sexual/verbal/mentally abusive interactions, Ruel would frame the women as the problem. He would make reference to their/our mental and emotional state, saying that we are unstable, need help and are just trying to taint his name. But no one can taint a name that was dripping dirt from the beginning. Predatory men run rampant in this place. Abusive predators will do what they do best, deny, deny, deny. And why wouldn’t they? They often have a host of fawning supporters who see sexual exploitation as nothing major. Many like Ruel hide under a veil of heightened morality but under that veil real evil resides,” Thompson said.

In responding to queries on his Facebook page Johnson said: “This is very deliberately short on specifics and a great deal of glossing over of fact. Yes, I met her at a poetry reading when she was 17 and at the time living with someone and with a child. And, yes, she was very talented with her poetry. What was initially a brief and stupid fling was ended by me on the basis of her age – there was no grooming, and certainly no prior relationship. There was no steady stream of alcohol because at the time I could not afford any but that was a very deliberate fiction. Over the years, we would occasionally reengage until we entered a full and open relationship as she highlighted. It was toxic and a lot of fighting from a shitload of gaslighting on her part and yes, a great deal of anger and suspicion on mine. What you presented above is a very clever mixture of truth and deliberate lies.”