Private school in Jamaica criticized over abusing American students, probe launched

St Vincent and the Grenadines: American boys who have been studying in the private boarding school of Jamaica have been allegedly abused by the four staff members. The charges have been laid against these members in the parish of St Elizabeth, causing havoc among the netizens.

The changes of cruelty and assault to the body of the child have been put in against the accused who are all from the parish. The police launched the probe on the matter and found out that five men are involved in abusing American students.

The police have arrested the accused through the initial investigation on Friday and the search operations made them locate at Great Bay, Sandy Bank and Holland Village of Jamaica.

As per the reports, the accused men were identified as 39-year-old Eddison Morris from Great Bay district, 51-year-old Courtney Wiggan, 33-year-old Carson Cox, and 31-year-old footballer Odane Maswell from Holland Village district. The offence was committed against the students at the American-run Atlantic Leadership Academy.

Notably, the management of the school has also removed eight of the academy’s residents who were between the ages of 14 and 18 over the connection with the offence of abuse and bullying against the students on February 8, 2024.

The residents were from the boarding school by the Child Protection and Family Service Agency and management discovered the offensive behaviour amoug them during their unannounced or sudden visit to the premise.

The police sent the seven of them in the custody of Jamaica child welfare authorities, while the eighth one has been sent back home to the United States in February.

The entire incident has raised the questions on the credibility and reputation of Atlantis Leadership Academy who is know for protecting and educating teenagers struggling with substance abuse, anxiety disorders and deviant behaviour.

Netizens demanded a proper investigation and said that the matter is concerning, as schools should adopt stringent measures to stop such illicit actions. Besides this, they also demanded the strict actions against the offenders and said that a perfect example should be settled in order to restrict such incident in the future.