NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The mother of a boy who was allegedly sodomized with objects at the Grand Bahama Children’s Home on Sunday is distraught and says her child appears to have been hampered by the alleged attack.
Donna Thompson, whose name has been changed to protect the identity of the alleged victim, alleged there was inadequate supervision of the children, adding that officials also failed to inform her about what happened in a reasonable time.
She said officials contacted her for the first time only yesterday, days after the alleged attack and two days after they said they found out about the incident.
She said on Wednesday an anonymous caller told her something had happened to her son.
Alarmed by the caller’s claims, she said she flew from New Providence to Grand Bahama on Thursday to find out what happened.
Thompson said Ministry of Social Services officials called her around noon and invited her to a meeting where they apologized profusely for what happened and said an investigation is underway.
She said her child is visibly hampered by the alleged attack and has difficulty walking. She said he cried when she asked him about what happened.
“I tell them I’m going to every news tingum, channel 4, channel 6, channel 7 and channel ten to tell them about this situation because it’s too much (expletive) going on in this country and then they tell me about sorry. Sorry ain’t giving me no answer,” she said.
“In the meeting they telling me they ain know how it get on Eyewitness News. Well sir, it’s because they ain doing their flicken job and somebody else choose to investigate it.”
“I saw my child, the child could barely move. He walking like he get knocked down or somebody else knock him over on one scooter or bike. Yet all they want me do is let them ‘do their job and investigate’.”
“You know when your body tense and you can’t really move? That’s how he behaved. He started to tell me what happened. He said he was washing dishes, him and another friend. He said he gone after that he lay down, he say it was after 1 or 2, but after saying that he started to cry so I stopped him because I learned in his sessions when I take him for evaluations not to push him and to give him time.”
Thompson said when she heard the caller’s claims on Wednesday, she began to blame herself and wondered whether she was indirectly responsible for what allegedly happened.
“How would you feel if it was your child? I started blaming myself for this but all I keep saying to myself is all I was trying to do is get him a little bit of help,” she said.
She said she is now trying to get her child out of the home and was told that to do this she must ask the court to lift the order which mandates that he remain there.
She said her son suffers from ADHD and has had “trouble” in the past.
“They just removed him to try give him the help he needs and they put him there to give him the full evaluation and everything, which in, he’s been there five weeks and nothing, and they talking about waiting on the doctor’s appointment,” she said.
“I want to take him to my own doctor’s appointment on Saturday.”
“I told them in there I’m going to put a damn lawsuit against these people because you live hearing these things happen but you still put your trust in these people to take care of your child.
“Where were the people who were supposed to be supervising my child, watching over my child as the protector? He had already made a complaint about these boys bothering him, that one boy say he gon beat him so bad he’ll beat him senseless.”
Thompson said officials told her they are investigating issues relating to supervision surrounding the incident.
“I told them if it’s Tuesday you got the information––this thing happened Sunday––so okay Tuesday you supposed to call me, not on Thursday.”
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