A St. Croix woman told police someone sneaked into her home as she slept early Friday morning and sexually assaulted her. The alleged assailant was 25-year-old Osei Edwards, a man arrested at least nine times since 2019 for burglary, assault, and related crimes, according to court records.
Edwards was held at St. Croix’s John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility pending an advice of rights hearing, according to police.
Although court records do not yet detail the most recent allegations, they do tell of Edwards’ alleged history of violence, struggles with mental illness, and numerous arrests, several for allegedly terrorizing his mother and at least one other for allegedly breaking into a woman’s room while she slept.
In April, Edwards agreed to spend six months at St. Croix’s the Village and follow the recommendations of the Virgin Islands Health Department, Division of Behavioral Health, Alcoholism and Drug Dependency Services. He did not. Edwards did not contact the Health Department and spent less than a week at the treatment center, according to the Justice Department.
Edwards had been remanded to the facility after allegedly attacking his mother in November 2024. Arresting officers took Edward to Juan F. Luis for psychiatric evaluation. He was released a day later but returned to the hospital soon after for unexplained injuries.
In 2022, he had allegedly broken into his mother’s home, defying a restraining order.
In March 2019, Edwards allegedly broke into his mother’s house. He was charged with burglary, larceny, and assault and battery. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning the judge would allow them to be refiled if needed. Less than a year later, in February 2020, Edwards was facing another burglary and destruction of property charge. This time, his attorney, the chief territorial public defender, told the court Edward planned to plead insanity.
Edwards was able to remain free after many of his multiple arrests for various reasons. A key factor was that Edwards was determined not competent to stand trial, yet the Virgin Islands lacked a long-term high-security mental health facility. At other times, government attorneys failed to file paperwork on time or filed it with the wrong office, according to court records. Other cases were addressed in Family Court.
In July 2023, a St. Croix woman woke in her bed early one morning to find a man attempting to sexually assault her, police said. The victim, who was not identified by police, grabbed a knife and successfully defended herself before calling police to say the attacker was Edwards.
But in April 2020, Edwards was again charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace. He was ordered to stay away from the victim, a woman about his age. The charges were dropped without prejudice, however, after Superior Court Magistrate Judge Ernest Morris ruled an assistant attorney general had unnecessarily delayed prosecution, according to court documents.
Edwards is scheduled to appear in Superior Court Monday.
