A constable in the centre of a sexual assault incident at the Hohola Police station in Port Moresby has been dismissed from the Royal PNG Constabulary.
Constable Leo Kambao was dismissed from the Force after being charged for sexual penetration.
He allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female detainee on January 10th at the station.
Police Internal Affairs Director Chief Superintendent Robert Ali said Kambao had other outstanding charges going back as far as 2013.
In 2013 Kambao was charged criminally with five counts and was found guilty on all counts by two different judges. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison for two years.
Apart from the criminal charges, he was also served with 27 Serious Disciplinary Offences Report (SDOR) – these are administrative actions taken on members of the Constabulary.
Eighteen of the 27 charges were sustained. The deliberations and the recommendations from the panel for the sustained 18 charges was an administrative dismissal from the force for all of them.
Ali said the moment a policeman is convicted by the court, Section 33.2 of the Police Act states that he is automatically dismissed from the force.
Meanwhile, the administrative charges for Chief Sergeant Ben Trepi, the Second Officer in Charge at the Hohola Police Station, who was also charged for the same incident, has already commenced.
Police Commissioner Gari Baki said he will be looking into the reasons why the disciplinary processes were not effective and not served in a timely manner on the constable in question.