radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
A year before the Justice Judith Jones Task Force unearthed horrific sexual abuse and physical assaults at children’s homes, the Public Services Association received reports from its workers that girls were being removed from the St Jude’s Home for Girls under suspicious circumstances.
But instead of acting on it, chairman of the PSA’s St Ann’s Hospital section, Preston George, claims the union’s executives and the police did absolutely nothing to protect the children.
In an interview with Guardian Media yesterday, George said workers at the St Jude’s Home had spoken out against the removal of Venezuelan children during the pandemic.
“Today, I ask who are those people from PSA who had information and never took it to the police. It’s known as aiding and abetting. You were given information about children in these homes and you did nothing to help them,” George charged.
He said at that time, PSA members had written a letter to the PSA executive expressing their concern about the operations of the home and noting that an investigation should be done into the removal of the girls from the home.
On August 3, 2020, George said the PSA media even wrote about the issues on the union’s website.
“We are once again calling on the authorities to investigate the operations of the St Jude’s Home, especially why the young girls are removed from the compound at a time like this. All steps must be taken to protect the health and safety of these girls at all costs. Those who are responsible for taking the girls off the compound for whatever reason must be held accountable,” the PSA article noted then.
A source who requested anonymity said at the time, the workers were under the impression that the girls were taken elsewhere to be sexually violated by affluent people who contribute financially to the homes.
On April 22, 2020, another story was written highlighting the removal of Venezuelan children from the said home, as well as the suspicious granting of permission for official visitors despite the COVID-19 protocols. During those visits, external individuals reportedly met the Venezuelan girls in as private room at the facility, distributing care bags to them and allowing them to chat and use their cell phones.
George said he was disappointed that after some workers made reports to the police nothing was done. He said three reports had been made to the Belmont police, noting that officers should have executed a warrant on the home and spoken to the children and workers about the allegations.
In the 307-page Justice Judith Jones report, horrific details of sexual, physical and psychological abuse were revealed.
In the area of physical abuse, the committee reported: “Physical abuse includes the punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting (with a hand, stick, strap, or other objects), burning, or other forms of harm to a child; that is inflicted by a person, whether an adult or older child, causing non-accidental physical injury ranging from minor bruises to severe fractures or death.”
The report said at St Jude’s, it was found that staff promoted a culture that encouraged abuse among residents.
The 1997 Sabga Report also outlined physical assault and sexual abuse but the police and politicians of the time never acted on it.
