NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Three out of five children who took the stand to testify against their former guardians from the Bahamas Children’s Emergency Hostel were deemed not competent to testify in an ongoing court matter.
Six former employees of the hostel have been charged with cruelty to children after a video circulated in January 2021 purportedly showing the women verbally scolding and physically striking a group of young children.
The matter was heard before Magistrate Kendra Kelly and saw five minor witnesses slated to testify as the six defendants looked on in an open court.
During the examination of the children, aged 7 to 11-years-old, by prosecutor Sgt Vernon Pyfrom, three of them could not indicate to the court whether they understood why they were present and what it meant to swear on a Bible or take an oath.
The children were overall soft-spoken, to which both the judge and the prosecutor often attempted to assure them that there was nothing to be afraid of.
During testimony, the children kept their eyes fixated on the floor, something in their hand or on the judge when prompted.
Eloise Canter, 53; Carmetta Woods, 47; Natasha Pratt, 46; Occonelle Gordon, 25; and Sabrina Smith, 61, were charged with 11 counts of cruelty to children.
The prosecution alleged that on September 22, 2020, the woman unlawfully physically abused nine boys and two girls in their care and custody, in a manner causing them unnecessary harm.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Shawn Seymour, 42, was charged with 11 counts of failing to report the abuse of a minor.
She also pleaded not guilty to all of the counts.
The first child to take the stand was an 11-year-old boy, who was able to explain to the court that he fully understood why he was there and that he understood what it meant to take an oath and tell the truth.
The fourth-grader recalled that he and other children in the home were in the sickbay when they were told by the adults that they needed to be quiet because they were “not behaving”.
He said the children were then told to line up in the dining room and they started to get “wap”, and explained to the court that this meant they were “spanked”.
He told the court that he was hit on his hand with what looked like a brown ruler or a “tamarind switch”, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
He said when he was spanked with the item it broke on his hand and he was told to sit down after.
He then identified three of the women who were in the court as the adults he remembered in the room that day and also named about eight other children he remembered being there.
The minor then noted that the adults went to “wap” another child but he was running around the table and was chased by the adults.
He further told that court that some of the other children were beaten with a “belt” as well.
When asked whether he was hurt when he was spanked, the young boy said he “didn’t feel that much pain”.
During the only cross-examination that took place during the day’s trial, Wallace Rolle, attorney for Sabrina Smith, asked the young boy if the children were misbehaving that day and whether it was the first time he had been punished at the facility.
He admitted that the children were misbehaving and that he had been spanked before by the employees at the hostel.
Rolle also asked the boy whether it was a hard hit and whether it was “cruel” or “mean” or caused any “suffering”.
The 11-year-old said it didn’t make him cry and only caused “a little bit of pain”, but there was a back and forth with the prosecution over whether he understood what “suffering” meant.
The remaining witnesses were less vocal in their testimonies, with one child repeatedly prompted by the judge to respond.
When one of the nine-year-old boys was brought in to testify, Larell Hanhcell, the attorney for Shawn Seymour, noted that the child seemed timid and suggested that it was unfair to put him through the ordeal.
Barry Sawyer, attorney for Eloise Canter, echoed similar sentiments, insisting that the process was “too traumatizing” for the child.
The only other child to testify, a nine-year-old third grader, did not swear on the Bible because he wasn’t sure what it meant and was allowed to affirm before he recited the oath.
He recalled that on the day of the incident the staff told the children to be quiet but “we wasn’t listening” and then indicated that he was beaten on his buttocks but that he did not remember who beat him or who the adults were in the room.
Magistrate Kelly ruled that three of the witnesses were not competent to testify after determining their level of understanding of the matter and dismissed them from the stand.
The matter continues at 11am tomorrow.
Attorneys should be careful of the words of punishment that describes suffering.
Isnt there a code of punishment that should be carried out on how to disvipline the kids.
Was the video showing tge guide line.
Come on, lets call it for what it is and stop playing around with our heads in the sand, twikiling our thumbs.