21 May 2007

US consular agent in Tahiti cleared after rape claims dismissed

1:49 pm on 21 May 2007

The judicial authorities in Tahiti say there is no case to answer in the alleged rape case brought by a young woman against the consular representative of the United States in French Polynesia.

The prosecution say the accusation was made against Christopher Kozely who was alleged to have abused a 17-year-old woman in 2005.

The news agency Tahitipresse says he was briefly held but the subsequent investigations cleared him of any wrongdoing.

A second civil case against the consular agent has also failed.

Mr Kozely was made the US consular agent in 2003 and runs a business in Tahiti.

His status does not give him diplomatic immunity.