What to know about the woman accusing Kirk Cornish of rape, assault and death threats
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The woman who accused Kirk Cornish of raping, assaulting and issuing death threats against her during their two-year relationship, was named in a court document as Warduia Lightbourne.
Earlier in the year when Lightbourne made the allegations, she was never officially identified but remained anonymous with broadcast media only showing her lower extremities as she recounted the horrid details entailing her boyfriend, the first-time North Abaco MP.
She filed the police report in April and Cornish was charged on Wednesday on five counts–two counts of rape, two counts of assault and one count of threats of death. She is expected to testify against him when the trial date is set, which will thrust her into the national spotlight.
Who is Warduia Lightbourne?
Lightbourne’s Facebook page said she studied medicine in Cuba and pictures show her in a medical uniform as she holds a certificate from the Latin America School of Medicine in Havana.
Friends congratulated her as a pediatrician in 2020.
How did Warduia Lightbourne describe the rape, assault and death threats?
The 35-year-old accused Cornish of raping, assaulting and threatening her between January and April.
According to the claims, Cornish choked her twice near unconsciousness, then poked her in the eye which he excused to be ‘an accident’ while the couple stayed in Abaco.
She alleged he even threatened to kill her family while she watched.
On March 24 while spending time in Nassau together, Lightbourne said Cornish held a knife to her throat and attempted to stab her.
Then on April 4, he ripped off her pants and underwear and forced himself on her. Before leaving the house, the MP said he came by to kill the family but ‘not enough of the family was in the yard.’
She then filed a police report on April 7.
During her conversation with the media in April, she said, “…something has to be done because he needs help, and whatever route that takes, it has to be done.
“I didn’t do this to hurt him. I did this to help him.”
