Nearly three years from now, a formal investigation into allegations of unwanted sexual contact leveled against Efrain Novelo, a serving employee of the Belmopan City Council in Belize, has concluded without turning up any independent corroborating evidence to back the central claim. The probe was launched after multiple members of the city council staff raised formal concerns about Novelo’s conduct, according to the official investigative findings.
Novelo has uniformly rejected every accusation brought against him. In his statements to investigators, he argued that the complaints were an act of retaliation tied to his prior work on disciplinary proceedings within the council’s Traffic Department. While investigators did not find evidence to support Novelo’s additional claims that the complaints were collectively coordinated, deliberately fabricated, or driven by extortion attempts against him, they also failed to uncover any eyewitness testimony, physical proof, or electronic records that independently validated the core allegation of non-consensual physical contact.
In their final wrap-up, the investigative team outlined three key next steps for the Belmopan City Council: moving forward with a formal administrative ruling on the matter, implementing protective measures for all current council employees, and launching a full review of how previous workplace misconduct complaints have been managed by senior leadership.
The investigation itself was carried out by a multi-stakeholder committee put together specifically to handle the allegation, the Belmopan City Council confirmed in an official press statement released on Thursday. The committee included representatives from the council’s own Human Resources Department, the Christian Workers Union, and Belize’s Ministry of Human Development, and the entire process was conducted in full compliance with the country’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Act, the council noted.
In its statement, the local governing body emphasized that all claims of sexual misconduct in the workplace are processed through a system designed to be fair, impartial, confidential, and rooted in tangible evidence. It further stressed that at no point during the process were any instructions issued to dismiss, downplay, ignore, suppress, or otherwise brush aside the complaint brought against Novelo.
The council also reaffirmed its long-term commitment to upholding a professional, respectful workplace culture built on the core principles of fairness, accountability, transparency, and full adherence to due process for all parties involved in any misconduct claim. As of this report, attempts by local outlet News Five to reach Novelo for comment on the investigation’s findings have not been successful.
This report is adapted from a transcript of a televised evening news broadcast, which notes that any Kriol-language statements from speakers were transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accuracy.