Five charged for alleged abuse at Atlantis Leadership Academy offered bail

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

All five men who who have been charged with the alleged abuse of children at the Atlantis Leadership Academy in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth have been offered bail.

 

Twenty-three-year-old Damion Herrera, of Gordon Town in St. Catherine was charged Tuesday morning with assault occasioning bodily harm, cruelty to a child and assault at common-law. He and his four co-accused, 39-year-old Edison Morris, 51-year-old Courtney Wiggan, 30-year-old Odaine Maxwell and 33-year-old Carson Cox, who were similarly charged last Friday, were each offered bail in the sum of $200,000 with surety.

 

As a condition of their bail the men have been instructed not to make direct or indirect contact with the facility.

 

Attorney Dirk Harrison, who is representing the men, on Tuesday requested a copy of the station diary and other documents relating to his clients' cases.

 

The case file is incomplete as the court is awaiting several outstanding statements.

 

Mr. Harrison also requested a gag order in the matter, but this was rejected by the judge.

 

The men are due to return to court on May 13.

 

On February 8, eight American teenagers were removed by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency after signs of abuse and neglect were observed during an unannounced visit.

 

Atlantis Leadership Academy, an American owned facility advertises itself as a faith-based school, serving teens struggling with substance abuse, anxiety disorders and deviant behaviour.

 

According to NBC News, the academy's founder and director, Randall Cook, in a statement on Monday, said the facility was appalled at the hatchet job that is being done to its reputation and denies all the allegations that have come after more than eight years in operation.

 

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Dr. Kevin Blake, in responding to whether or not the operators of Atlantis Leadership Academy who are not Jamaicans will be charged, said the investigation continues. 

 

"All persons who are of interest in that investigation obviously will be spoken to by the investigators. I wish not to say more at this point, but just to say that the investigation is ongoing and that in very short order, we'll be able to give you more on that."