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31st July 2010
CRYING “WOLF!?”
“False Statements from CAFRA Representative Flavia Cherry”, says Leonard Terrance, BTC Manager

(Photo) Flavia Cherry (INSET: Leonard Terrance)

On Wednesday 14th July 2010, CAFRA representative, Ms. Flavia Cherry appeared on the DBS television station on the Newsmaker Live programme with host, Timothy Poleon. Unprompted, she proceeded to make a false and unfounded statement that a Care and Protection Ward was raped by two older convicted Wards of the Boys Training Centre (BTC). The CAFRA representative made similar statements in the Saturday’s edition of the Voice News Paper which was carried by Journalist Stan Bishop. In the process, the CAFRA representative also castigated one category of Wards at the Centre and portrayed them as sex predators.
Radio Caribbean International (RCI) Announcer, Timothy Poleon, carried the same story in his Mid-Day Afternoon News and also on his News Spin programme even after he was advised by Management of the Boys Training Centre that the story being released was untruthful.
I am also advised that Mr. Sam “Juke Bois” Flood, Entertainer/ Creole Announcer of Hot FM Radio also repeated the same false statements adding his own version of events much to the entertainment of his followers. He gave graphic details of the condition of the Ward at the Hospital without himself or anyone from his organization verifying the allegations. In the process he also vilified the Management of the Centre.
The following is a litany of the callous, irresponsible, and factually incorrect statements by Ms. Flavia Cherry, who was acting in the capacity of CAFRA representative at the time of accusing the Wards at BTC. Attached to each statement is a response from Management of the Centre.

1. [ “Care and Protection Ward] Boy was Violently Raped by Two [Convicted] Wards”.
Investigations carried out by the Management of the Centre do not support the occurrence of any such incident. Likewise, there is no medical evidence to corroborate this serious accusation uttered by the CAFRA representative.

2. “ As a result of the attack, His Anus was Split [Ruptured]”
According to the Doctor’s report, there is no evidence to suggest that the Ward’s Anus was split/ruptured or even tampered with.

3. “He had to be taken to the Hospital Bleeding and in a Terrible Condition”
The Care and Protection Ward was not hospitalized because he was bleeding in the Anus. He was admitted to Victoria Hospital because of a totally unrelated condition for which medication prescribed at the Polyclinic was not effective.

4. “[The] Boy was also Violated in the Mouth and ended up with some Serious Infections in the Throat”.
According to the Doctors Report, there is no medical evidence that the Ward was violated in the mouth. The medical condition that the Ward suffers with is not as a result of any infected semen found in his mouth, as has been suggested by the CAFRA representative. While it is not ethical to reveal the medical status of a Ward, suffice it to say that this is a condition that many adults and children suffer with on a regular basis.

5. “You have Little Boys age 3-9 who are being sent there…, When you place these psychotic drug-dependent boys with Seven, Eight, and Nine”...
The Boys Training Centre is not a Kindergarten or a Day Care facility. It does not House 3 to 9 year old boys. By Law, no child that young is placed at the Centre. The Centre accommodates boys from age ten (10) to sixteen (16). However, there are instances when a boy who is over sixteen years of age may be kept at BTC but not over eighteen (18).

6. [The Care and Protection Wards] have No Behavioural Problems as such
The Care and Protection Wards enter the Centre with extreme conduct disorders. They have posed the greatest challenge to the staff at the Centre. Their behaviour is no different from that of a Ward who has been convicted of an offence.

7. “The Boys Share the Same Sleeping Quarters”
All the boys do not share the same sleeping quarters. The Care and Protection Wards sleep in a secured dormitory, while the convicted Wards have their own. Wards do not move from one dorm to another.

8. “The Boys Have no Access to Toilet Facilities”
This statement is totally inaccurate. Boys of the Centre have access to toilet facilities at any time of the day and night. Six (6) new toilet bowls were installed at the facility at the beginning of the year including five (5) in the boys’ bathroom area.

9.The boys have No Choice but to Defecate and Urinate on the Floor During the Night
The boys do not defecate or urinate on the floor of their dorms because they do not have access to the toilets. The two known occasions when this was recorded at the Centre, was when a Ward went through a serious crisis, and when another Ward had a very serious diarrhea.

10. “Efforts to bury the latest issue of abuses at the Boys’ Training Centre may end up being the posture the powers that be may eventually take”.
This is perhaps the most vicious statement among the nine (9) that have been highlighted. It suggests that Ms. Cherry might have realized that she was furnishing her audience with some blatant untruths and attempted to subvert any appropriate response to her imagined story. The Management of the Boys Training Centre will not bury any issue of the Boys Training Centre as it pertains to any form of abuse. The management of BTC is totally intolerant to any form of abuse and is also duty bound to investigate all allegations of abuse and to take the necessary action.
 
 

Ms. Flavia Cherry’s statements have caused much pain and psychological distress to the Wards at the BTC, particularly those who are in conflict with the law whom she has targeted. The stigmatization that is associated with being placed at the Centre is further compounded by accusations that the older boys rape the younger ones. The boys feel that they are being further punished unnecessarily. Likewise, the Care and Protection Ward who is at the Centre of this fictitious episode has had to deal with unwanted attention from curious observers even from his sick bed at the hospital.
Ms. Cherry was not the only culprit in this whole saga. The morning after her infamous statements were aired, management placed a call to the host of the News Maker Live programme to inform him that the statements the CAFRA representative made were erroneous. Mr. Poleon was advised not to carry the story because there were too many inaccuracies. That request was ignored and Mr. Poleon commenced his report by saying that “violence has erupted once more at the Boys Training Centre”. It is instructive to note that about the same time Mr. Poleon was carrying his story, the Wards were engaged in decorating the Centre for a farewell party for three (3) wards who were being discharged.
This is not the first time that Mr. Poleon has used such flowery words to describe events at the BTC. In one instance, he described an incident at the Centre as a revolution in action.
Other radio stations followed suit without once adhering to the basic principle of journalism-CHECK YOUR FACTS.
The management of the Boys Training Centre would like to urge all the media houses to exercise a certain level of sensitivity and responsibility when reporting matters that pertain to the Wards at BTC.
It is against this backdrop that the Management of the Boys Training Centre request that the CAFRA representative, Ms. Flavia Cherry retracts the statement made on both the News Maker Live programme, and in the Voice News paper.
The Management of BTC would also advise that the management of the DBS television station, Hot FM and Radio Caribbean International to distance themselves from these false accusations. Management also request that the host of these shows who reported this insensitive and damaging story make a public apology as many lives have been affected by their show of irresponsibility.

PROGRAMMES AT BTC
For the information of the concerned public, management wishes to highlight some of the programmes currently being undertaken at the Centre.
In January 2010, eight (8) programmes were activated in order to address the needs of the boys
at the Centre. These include:
• Skills Training (Agriculture, Wood-Work, Welding and Auto Mechanic)
• Formal Education (English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies)
• Counselling
• Character Education
• Regimented programme to address serious behavioural Issues
• Spirituality
• Community out Reach programme
Unfortunately, some of the programmes that would have had the greatest impact in causing a change of behavior in the Wards have been delayed due to the financial constraints. However, other programmes with less of a financial burden were introduced. These include the Why Try counseling initiative which has been implemented in many secondary schools around the Island; a Culinary programme which is sponsored by the Landings Hotel; Sports for Life; Steel Band music sponsored by Pan Time; and Psychiatric Care for the Wards.
Moreover, two hundred thousand dollars ($200 000) was approved for the rehabilitation of the Centre of which one hundred and forty thousand dollars ($140 000) has been disbursed in the first two quarters. Contracts have also been awarded to various individuals and in a matter of weeks; major rehabilitative works should be completed at BTC.
Additionally, work has recommenced on the structure to relocate the Care and Protection Wards, as well as a second structure to include a holding unit, an isolation unit, a sick bay and a medical unit.
Management takes this opportunity to thank all stakeholders and generous citizens who continue to contribute to making a change in the lives of the Wards at the Boys Training Centre.

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