By ARTESIA DAVIS, Guardian Senior Reporter, artesia@nasguard.com

Bishop Randy Fraser will be tried again for allegedly having sex with a teenage girl, whom he was counseling.

Justices of Appeal Milton Ganpatsingh, Emmanuel Osadebay and Christopher Blackman ordered a new trial yesterday after hearing the attorney general's appeal against a magistrate's decision to discharge Fraser, the pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church on St. James Road. Fraser was not in court for the hearing.

Prosecutors allege that Fraser, while holding a position of trust, had a sexual relationship with the then 16-year-old-girl between July 2005 and February 2006. The teen, who was being counseled by Fraser, alleged that she had sex with him at his church and his home. The girl had reached the age of consent but prosecutors alleged that Fraser abused his position as the child was in a dependent relationship with him.

Magistrate Marilyn Meeres ruled last October that Fraser had no case to answer on the charges. However, instead of ordering an acquittal, Magistrate Meeres gave prosecutors the option of initiating new proceedings against Fraser.

Bernard Turner, the director of public prosecutions, said that the magistrate's "ruling and order were unsupported in law." Justice of Appeal Osadebay said the magistrate washed her hands of the matter by giving the prosecution the opportunity to bring the case back.

He said, "What she is doing is washing her hands. I can't convict the man, but you can come back again. It won't be me."

Fraser's lawyer Wayne Munroe suggested that the magistrate may have made the order because the high-profile case was one that "attracts heat". But he said the magistrate was in error when she made the order, instead of acquitting Fraser.

The Justices of Appeal observed that although Magistrate Meeres said the alleged victim's claims had been contradicted by other prosecution witnesses, she did not specify what those contradictions were. In her ruling, Magistrate Meeres also said that the presence of semen on the carpet in the church's office had no bearing on the case.

Justice of Appeal Osadebay remarked, "Did the girl tell you it was the defendant's semen? She never said the semen found was the man's semen. But what an odd place to find semen -- on a church floor."

Munroe agreed that Magistrate Meeres made the wrong order. Munroe said, "He was entitled to be acquitted. It would not be just to give the prosecution a second go at it."

The case will be heard by a new magistrate because Meeres is now a Supreme Court registrar. The Justices of Appeal said they would give a written opinion to assist the trial magistrate.