The man named in the 1997 Sabga Report as the alleged molester of more than 30 boys at the St Dominic’s Children’s Home has denied all the accusations levelled against him, labelling them as “propaganda and mischievousness.”
Speaking to Guardian Media on the telephone yesterday, the man said a lot can change in 20 years. And he has also.
“Let’s say you did something way back when you were a child, you moved on, you get fired or resign or whatever, all these years you probably change, you get married, have a family, start to go to church,” he said.
“So, to bring back something from way back...like God says when you get baptised you are baptised in the sea of forgetfulness, you ask forgiveness, you change your life so long.”
“My thing is it is just media publicity, propaganda, mischievousness because I’m sure it is not the Sabga report people who brought this story back up (after all this time). I’m sure is not them, it is probably some mischievous person who probably did something,” the man added.
Instead of rehashing what happened over 20 years ago, the man said the authorities should focus on what is currently going on at the children’s homes across the country.
“The police dealt with it (the accusations) then and there was insubstantial evidence. People can say anything about anybody. But the main question is why now? What has caused this outcry again? There are homes presently now, deal with the present,” he said.
“Why they didn’t contact the accused in 1997? It is so long they did a report, why they didn’t get in touch with the accused then? This is a mischievous something to tarnish the character or something. It doesn’t make sense.”
The man also noted that the alleged victims are all adults now.
“The media in Trinidad like their back-and-forth drama, so sometimes people don’t want to get involved,” he said.
According to the 1997 Sabga report, the named former resident of St Dominic’s Children’s Home was accused of molesting more than 30 boys at the institution.
“A male member of staff (who was once a resident there) is alleged to have perpetrated multiple sexual acts with a number of children up to the latter part of 1995. These included forced buggery; encouraging boys to have sex with each other while he watched; stripping and beating the older boys while the younger ones looked on; encouraging the children to ‘play’ with him, etc,” the report stated.
“He reportedly hit a child who once told about the ‘rough play’ at night. One young boy finally disclosed all and the alleged perpetrator was confronted. He admitted his actions and explained that he too had been abused at St Dominic’s,” the report added.
“The home’s manager asked the perpetrator to volunteer his resignation that day, and all of his leave etcetera was paid to him in full.
“The matter was then promptly swept under the carpet and no counselling or follow-up with the children involved was done, ostensibly to protect the reputation of the Home.
“Amazingly, other than the verbal reprimand he received from the Sister, and his constructive dismissal thereafter, very little else appears to have been done about his actions, either in terms of him getting professional help, or - more importantly- any of the staggering number of children he molested getting help either (one child even wrote a letter to a staff member pleading for help).”
The report stated that the “most astonishing” thing was that the “perpetrator allegedly got a letter of recommendation from St Dominic’s, and he is now reportedly employed at a health institution.”