KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Four staff members of a private boarding school for troubled teens in the parish of St Elizabeth have been charged in connection with the alleged abuse of several American boys at the institution.
The accused, who are all from the parish, have been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, cruelty to a child and assault at common law.
Police on Saturday named the men accused of committing the offences against the students at the American-run Atlantis Leadership Academy as 39-year-old Eddison Morris from Great Bay district, 51-year-old Courtney Wiggan and 33-year-old Carson Cox, both from Sandy Bank community and footballer Odane Maswell, 31, from Holland Village district.
A fifth person is in custody but further investigations are being carried out.
The five were arrested last Friday during operations in Great Bay, Sandy Bank and Holland Village.
Atlantis Leadership Academy is a faith-based school that caters to teenagers struggling with substance abuse, anxiety disorders and deviant behaviour.
On February 8, eight of the academy’s residents between the ages of 14 and 18 were removed from the boarding school by the Child Protection and Family Service Agency after signs of abuse and neglect were observed during an unannounced visit.
Seven of them are in the custody of Jamaican child welfare authorities. The eighth, who is now 18, was sent back home to the United States in February.
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