March 28, 2024, 05:50:28 AM

Author Topic: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread  (Read 102785 times)

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Offline Flex

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #690 on: March 17, 2021, 02:52:27 PM »
Penal security guard appears in court on child porn charges
JADA LOUTOO (T&T NEWSDAY).


A 35-year-old security guard from Penal appeared before a Chaguanas magistrate on Wednesday, charged with possession of child pornography.

Neil Ramdeen, 35, of Batchiya Trace, appeared before Magistrate Adrian Darmanie and will return to court on Thursday since the police could not provide a criminal tracing record and asked for two days to do so.

On Tuesday, the police told the public their certificate-of-character service had been disrupted by a system malfunction.

Darmanie said considering the sensitive nature of the offence, proper tracing was required before bail could be considered.

Ramdeen is represented by attorney Bhimal Maharajh, who said his client lived with his daughter, wife and four step-children.

He said he was an SRP from 2006-2015, a member of the Petrotrin police unit from 2014-2016 and a constable with T&TEC police since 2016.

Ramdeen has also been a member of a church in Penal for 25 years, and a member of the church’s band.

He was diagnosed with kidney stones four years ago. A medical report from a private medical facility, dated March 8, was submitted showing he had two kidney stones and also suffered from sleep apnoea, which required special equipment for him to sleep.

On Tuesday, the police said a T&TEC security officer was arrested and charged by acting Cpl Baboolal of the Freeport Criminal Investigations Department (CID), after a digital search warrant was executed at his Penal home on Monday.

While at the man’s home, Freeport CID officers allegedly discovered and seized a large quantity of child pornographic pictures and videos.

He was immediately arrested, the release said, and was charged after further investigations.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #691 on: March 18, 2021, 01:10:41 AM »
One of two Sean Luke murder accused confirms defence statement
JADA LOUTOO (T&T NEWSDAY).


THE defence statement of one of the men accused of killing six-year-old Sean Luke in 2006 has been read out in court.

Akeel Mitchell’s re-amended defence statement was read to him at Wednesday’s sitting by Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, who also confirmed with him that the contents accurately stated his position and his defence.

Mitchell, 28, and Richard Chatoo, 30, are before Ramsumair-Hinds at a judge-only trial. When they were arraigned in February, both men pleaded not guilty.

It is alleged that on a date unknown, between March 25 and 29, 2006, in Couva, the two murdered Sean Luke.

They are both remanded at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca and attend court from the prison’s virtual court facility, since court and prison rules prohibit prisoners from attending court as a covid19 precaution.

The reading-out of the defence statement was in keeping with rule 14(1) of the criminal procedure rules which govern the conduct of criminal trials.

Mitchell, one of his attorneys, and a registrar of the High Court signed his defence statement. Dated March 10, and filed on March 16, it replaced two previously filed by his attorneys.

Chatoo’s has not yet been read to him.

When Mitchell's statement had been read out, and after technology-related issues were sorted out, Chatoo’s defence continued its challenge of the evidence, recalling Cpl Nigel Stephens, the police audiovisual technician who recorded an interview with Chatoo, then a pre-teen, by the police.

His evidence and that of retired Insp Azam Hamid were taken from the San Fernando High Court, where the judge, prosecutors and at least one of Chatoo’s attorneys were present for the sitting.

The matter continues on Friday, when two more retired police witnesses are expected to testify. The challenge, called a voir dire, is expected to end on Monday, and attorneys have been asked to file their submissions by April 1.

The judge is expected to rule on both Mitchell’s and Chatoo’s challenges after the Easter court break, after which the main trial is expected to begin.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #692 on: March 20, 2021, 10:03:19 AM »
Young: Only courts can order sex offender to wear a bracelet
by Bavita Gopaulchan (T&T Guardian).


National Security Minister Stuart Young says only the courts can order an offender to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Young made the comment yesterday in response to calls by co-founder of the Operation Global Sex Offender Registry Jonathon Bhagan and children’s rights activist Dianna Mahabir-Wyatt for child sex predators to be fitted with bracelets so they could be tracked while out on bail. Their calls came on the heels of four men appearing before the courts on various sexual offences involving children. Noting most sexual predators were repeat offenders, they argued that bracelets could at least allow the police to track their whereabouts.

Commenting on the calls by the activists, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi told Guardian Media during a telephone interview on Thursday that the “rule of law” was already in place and the Electronic Monitoring Unit had already been set up under the Ministry of National Security. This was also confirmed by Young when contacted by Guardian Media yesterday.

“I have said this repeatedly, the unit is ready and operational. Staff and equipment in place. It is up to the courts to make the orders,” Young said.

Guardian Media has sent several questions to the Judiciary on whether or not court orders have been made for offenders to use the devices. However, up to press time we received no response.

In 2012, the law allowing for the introduction of electronic monitoring devices into the criminal justice system was passed. A subsequent amendment to the law, referred to as the Administration of Justice (Electronic Monitoring) (Amendment) Bill 2020, was made last year. This introduced a clause mandating that the offender compensate the state for any device that is damaged while in use.

During the debate last May, Young told the Upper House that it costs $1.4 million for a batch of 150 and $1 million for 100 devices. The minister also noted at the time that Amalgamated Security had teamed up with Israeli firm Attenti to win a tender, which he assured was properly conducted by iGovTT, to purchase the devices, software and technical support.

The unit is currently manned by staff of the National Security Ministry with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service providing enforcement.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #693 on: July 23, 2021, 02:08:45 PM »
Guilty and guilty: Two convicted for brutal killing of Sean Luke, 6, in 2006
JADA LOUTOO  (T&T NEWSDAY).


GUILTY verdicts have been passed on the two men on trial for the brutal murder of six-year-old Sean Luke in 2006.

Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds delivered the verdicts on Friday against Akeel Mitchell and Richard Chatoo, both of whom were teenagers when they were arrested and charged for Luke’s murder.

“I weighed up all evidence globally and drew strands together from all the facts," the judge said. "I found that it all led to all inescapable inference, not...speculation.”

She said the killing was a planned, frenzied assault on Luke.

Mitchell, she said, buggered Luke, while Chatoo assisted and encouraged him, after which Mitchell sodomised Luke with a cane stalk.

She said Luke would have been in excruciating agony.

She told both men, “I find you guilty.”

It was alleged that on a date unknown, between March 25 and 29, 2006, in Orange Valley, Couva the two men murdered Sean Luke. They were charged jointly on the single indictment.

Chatoo, now 31, was 16 when he was arrested and charged. Mitchell, now 29, was weeks shy of 14.

The judge has fixed August 23 for sentencing. The men are likely to be sentenced at the court’s pleasure with a minimum sentence and periods of review fixed by the judge.

The death penalty cannot be imposed on those who were minors when they committed a crime and the judge said the law was clear, advising people not to clamour for the death penalty.

Mitchell and Chatoo had opted for a judge-only trial.

Ramsumair-Hinds provided her reasons for arriving at her verdict 14 days after the end of closing addresses, in keeping with the provisions of the legislation governing such trials.

She was also required by law to provide written reasons for coming to her verdict as the judge of the facts and law.

It took three hours for her to give her reasons. Friday’s reading of the verdict was streamed live on the Judiciary’s website. The video feed of the two men, who followed the judge’s ruling from the Maximum Security Prison virtual court facility, was not shown on the live stream, as ordered by the judge.

The State’s case rested mainly on circumstantial evidence, which featured the testimony of two other boys who said they last saw Luke enter the cane field where his body was found with Mitchell and Chatoo; the DNA evidence from the sperm fraction pointing to Mitchell; and the boy’s body found sodomised with a cane stalk, approximately 12 joints long, as described by Chatoo in his statement to the police.

Mitchell’s DNA profile was found on Luke’s underwear, but none of Chatoo’s was found on either Luke’s clothing or the piece of cane stalk, which ruptured his internal organs, causing his death.

On the day Luke went missing – March 26, 2006 – Chatoo said an older neighbour, Avinash Baboolal, asked if he wanted to go fishing with him and another boy from the area, Arvis Pradeep.

Both Baboolal and Pradeep testified for the prosecution, claiming Chatoo and Mitchell took Luke into the cane field. Neither saw Luke return.

State pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald-Burris, who admitted the case still traumatised her, said the cause of death was “internal chest and abdominal injuries and haemorrhage due to a foreign object – a cane stalk – introduced into the body cavity.”

Luke’s body was found in the field near his home two days after he went missing.

Both men denied killing Luke. Mitchell raised an alibi and Chatoo alleged the statements he gave to the police, in which he implicated himself and Mitchell, were fabricated by the police and adduced as a result of oppression, trickery, force and inducement.

Chatoo testified. Mitchell did not.

In her ruling, the judge said she rejected their evidence and found as a fact that Luke was buggered and sodomised with the cane stalk and both men participated in the enterprise with the intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

She said death happened during a few frenzied moments between 3pm and 6 pm, and Luke’s death came within minutes of the insertion of the cane stalk into his body.

Mitchell, she said, had the intention to commit murder when “he pushed the cane stalk until it had nowhere else to go,” while Chatoo intentionally assisted.

On at least three occasions, both before and after the trial started, the judge had been asked to rule on separate applications by Mitchell to permanently stay or quash his indictment. She declined, saying there was no risk to a fair trial for either man. She also overruled a no-case submission advanced for Mitchell by his attorneys.

Mitchell and Chatoo were represented by attorneys Mario Merritt, Evans Welch, Kirby Joseph, Randall Raphael, Kelston Pope and Gabriel Hernandez.

Assistant DPP Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, Anju Bhola and Sophia Smith-Sandy prosecuted.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #694 on: July 24, 2021, 08:16:07 AM »
March 25, 2006 - July 23, 2021

Four WCs took place before the verdict was rendered. Four!

Final stage qualification for a 5th WC will start less than 10 days after the sentencing date.

A child born in March 2006 is months shy of prospectively entering the job market.

 :yellowcard: x 2.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2021, 08:19:29 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Flex

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #695 on: May 11, 2022, 01:26:29 PM »
Neighbours angry as 2-year-old Kymani found dead
T&T Guardian Reports.


Thousands across the country and in the quiet community of Techier Village, Point Fortin, were tossed into grief yesterday, after two-year-old Kymani Francis was found dead in the Guapo river a day after he went missing.

The toddler was found by a member of a search and rescue group from the village shortly before 11 am. Guardian Media was told by officials that Kymani had blood in his nose when he was found.

Rescue teams had resumed their search for the boy from before 5 am, after the efforts involving hundreds of soldiers, police, hunters and community members on Monday failed to find him.

The search ended with the discovery of his body, face down in the water, clad only in the pamper he was wearing when he wandered from his house at 10.40 on Monday morning.

He was discovered in an area that was searched the day before.

In the direction the boy walked while heading towards a bushy area in the rural community the day before, he would have passed two wooden houses just off the roadway from the home he shared with his family.

A neighbour, who claimed she had observed Kymani veering away from his home, said she contacted the police while pursuing the boy. However, she explained that he was so far ahead of her that she lost sight of him after he turned a corner at the end of the street.

How did Kymani reach the river?

The barefooted toddler would have had to walk for nearly a mile from his home beneath the sweltering heat on an oil sand road and then venture off into a grassy track with stones and debris to reach where his body was found.

Investigators are trying to determine how he did all of this on his own.

Head of the search party Hard Ground Gets Soft, Ren Gopiesingh, also said it was unbelievable the toddler made the journey under the harsh conditions.

“The body was discovered close to the floodgate and for a toddler, that walk cannot be less than 20 minutes. For a baby to make that walk, it really hard. I made that walk several times myself and it was not easy,” he said.

Gopiesingh said the area of the river where the boy’s body was found was searched several times by members of his group and others on Monday.

“The Coast Guard, life guards, we and all were here. We were in the water, we did checks and searched that area and to know that was where the body was found, it really hard. I, as a father, it hard. As a parent losing your child is hard.”

Monday’s search exercises went beyond 11 pm and volunteers and villagers began searching before 5 am yesterday, prior to official search teams resuming their work.

Community failed toddler

As members of the community tried to piece together what happened, many expressed outrage over the circumstances that preceded his death.

Many questioned the presence of the boy’s parents, who were at home when he disappeared and also the role of the female neighbour who said she pursued and contacted the police when she saw the toddler wandering off.

The neighbour has since come under heavy criticism for not doing more to recover Kymani, despite her claims that she attempted to follow the boy.

In an interview posted on social media yesterday, she said, “I just kept going, I was calling boy, I was looking all over, there’s a river right there. I checked both sides of the river, when I reached I couldn’t find him. I kept going.”

Police escorted the woman to the place where the boy’s body was found yesterday.

Tempers flared as villagers gathered outside her home, as they insisted she could have done more.

“So you, because the mother ain’t come out, you can’t come out and bring the child for the mother...there is a God and he sees and he knows,” one woman said.

Point Fortin MP Kennedy Richards said the incident had left a cloud of gloom over the community.

“I was looking at him there and I was saying that could happen to anybody. I’m not going to cast aspersions on the family but as a community, we would have failed that young man. The neighbour saw him wandering off, there were some guys cutting grass for Heritage that saw him and you know what, nobody stopped him and that is where we failed.”

Mayor Saleema Thomas held back the tears as she lamented little Kymani’s tragic end.

“What can a little one do to deserve such cruelty? So I want to plead with the persons out there that our children are our future and if we continue to create such harm for our children there is no future for us.”

An autopsy will be conducted on the toddler to determine the cause of death.

PM saddened by death

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has expressed sadness over the death of two-year-old Kymani Francis.

Dr Rowley issued a brief statement on his Facebook page yesterday, saying he trusts “that in times like these we commit even more than ever, to be our brother’s keeper.”

“A child is dead and this entire nation is torn to our deep within. We all have questions to ask ourselves not the least of which is whether this tender life could have been saved,” Dr Rowley said.

He added: “The vast majority of us do not know this child or this family but that does not insulate us from the deep disturbing sorrow that washes over our nation tonight. This sad end is not what we were praying and hoping for even as we struggle with a constant stream of violence, domestic and otherwise.”

“I, among the many shocked and saddened citizens, extend my deepest sympathy to the family and the Pt Fortin community and trust that in times like these we commit even more than ever, to be our brother’s keeper as we extend ourselves in support as far as we are able.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Re: Child Abuse & Murder News Thread
« Reply #696 on: May 11, 2022, 11:44:50 PM »
Tempers flared as villagers gathered outside her home, as they insisted she could have done more.

This is indeed sad. I am now a grandfather of 4 ranging in ages from  3 yrs to 3 months. Two were born this year. This story is very painful since I have been doing some serious baby sitting. I am booked from later today thru Monday. Their parents need a little free time. I still pray I do things right when they are in my care. Actually, I praying harder. You don' know when craziness go happen.

Let's wait for the real story, if they are able to resolve this. This is the same attitude we are seeing and hearing when reports of children(Afro Trini children) fighting on videos(whether staged or not). It is always after the fact rabble rousing.

Don't talk about the gun death videos circulating of Afro Trini wiping out theyself(self inflicted holocaust) going in plain site of the AfroTrini community. Only the AfroTrini communities can resolve this. No gov't, no NGOs, I dare to say no religeous group seem capable of helping Black youths. The real problem is Black fathers or father figures. They appear or are failing in controlling our "Black Hens chickens". There is so much the Black Hens can do. They have been doing double duty far too long. Excuse me for the rambling on.

 

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