Alleged child abductor remanded to Sandilands

Alleged child abductor remanded to Sandilands

Lawyer says client has ‘mental health problems’

NASSAU, BAHMAS – “She is a good person, with a good heart, with mental health problems,” said Howard Thompson Jr, the lawyer representing De’endra Gibson, the woman who allegedly abducted four young boys in the capital in recent weeks, the first occurring on February 16, 2019.

After evading police for more than six weeks, Gibson, 29, was arraigned before magistrate Samuel Mckinney on Thursday in Court number 1, but the arraignment did not go as planned.

Before Magistrate McKinney was able to read Gibson the charges, Thompson told the court the information would be incomprehensible to his client, as she has mental issues and was recently released from Brookfield University – a mental health facility in New York.

In fact, Thompson claimed he attempted to meet with Gibson several times while in police custody to discuss the case, however he said each time she could not understand what he saying.

Magistrate McKinney took the information into consideration and said, while the offences she will be charged with are electable and can be heard in either the Magistrates Court or the Supreme Court, he will not require her to make that decision at the time [on Thursday] or enter a plea to any of the charges.

Meanwhile, Gibson sat in court crying and was seemingly unaware of what was happening. Her lawyer then told everyone that his client was troubled.

Gibson was charged with four counts of abduction under the Sexual Offences Act.

According to reports, on February 16th, Gibson abducted a 3-year-old and then on March 6TH, 7TH and 29TH, she abducted three eight-year-old boys.

Three of the boys were dropped off at the entrance of the City Dump hours after they were picked up. The three-year-old, according to the police, was abducted from in front of his South Beach residence and was dropped off hours later at a laundromat on Joe Farrington Road.

Gibson was remanded to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Center for an evaluation. She is expected to return to court on May 13, 2019, when a report will be presented on her mental state.