Bahamian shame: senator charged in Travolta blackmail

Jan 25, 2009, 11:00 GMT

The actor - whose 16-year-old son Jett died on January 2 after suffering a seizure while on holiday with his family in the Bahamas - asked police to investigate threats made to his family last week and following questioning, Grand Bahama\'s Senator Pleasant Bridgewater has been charged with extortion. © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos

A high-ranking politician has resigned after being charged with blackmailing John Travolta.

The actor - whose 16-year-old son Jett died on January 2 after suffering a seizure while on holiday with his family in the Bahamas - asked police to investigate threats made to his family last week and following questioning, Grand Bahama's Senator Pleasant Bridgewater has been charged with extortion.

The official left her post yesterday (24.01.09) following the investigation and vowed to fight "unfair and untrue charges" stemming from actions she took as a lawyer.

She said: "How these innocent actions can be so misconstrued, so perversely twisted to mean something other than it was, is a mystery."

Police have also been questioning ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former tourism minister Obie Wilchcombe, though neither man have been charged.

Obie had previously described himself as a friend of John and his wife Kelly Preston, and is believed to have been one of the people who tried to revive Jett following his seizure.

No specific details of the blackmail plot have been revealed, though it is believed to involve a photograph of Jett which someone is attempting to make public.

The family's attorneys Mike Ossi and Howard Butler released a statement about the rumoured $20million extortion attempt saying: "Regrettably, in a time of such terrible grief, there are often a few individuals who attempt to make false claims in hopes of making millions of dollars. We will never let that happen."