Former Qahal Yahweh member testifies to compound raid, living conditions
Published:Monday | July 29, 2024 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
“They came in with guns pointing in our faces, shouting at us to get up and come out, and frightening the children,” said a former member of the controversial Montego Bay-based Qahal Yahweh religious group, while giving evidence in the St James Parish Court on Friday.
The witness was giving evidence regarding the removal of 23 children from the group’s Paradise, Norwood-based compound, in St James, on June 7, 2023. Sixteen members of the group are on trial for breaches of the Child Care and Protection Act and the Education Act.
Those on trial are Omar Thompson, Jevaughn Thompson, Christopher Anderson, Nekeisha Harding, Derrick Clarke, Roanalee Maitland, Alicia Meadley, Fabian Nelson, Franchain Paris, Jodian Spence, Jose Foskin, Oral Spence, Rayon Letman, Ingrid Williams, Vera Woolery, and Melisha Thompson. They are all being represented by King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie.
The witness told the hearing that members of the security forces and the Child Development Agency (CDA) stormed the compound in the early hours of June 7, 2023. The 23 children, aged one to 17 years at the time, who were removed from the property during that operation, were later placed in state care.
“Early in the morning, around 5, we were awakened by police and soldiers raiding the compound. They told us to gather in one place, and then the CDA asked for the children’s birth certificates, and then they told us that the parents and children would be coming down to the Family Court,” the witness told trial judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce.
After the June 7 operation, in which the 23 children were removed from the property, there was a follow-up raid on June 30. Subsequent to the second raid, the 16 defendants were arrested and charged.
The ex-Qahal Yahweh member also described the living conditions that existed at the compound before to the June 7 raid.
“There were seven rooms on the building, and my family and two other families were in a room. All the rooms there are different, some are bigger than some,” she said.
“What about the one you lived in with the two other families?” asked Grant-Pryce.
“I think it was half of this room,” Gallimore answered, indicating that the room she and the 13 other pople resided in was half the size of the courtroom. “There were three bunk beds and two single beds.”
“These three bunk beds, how many persons can be accommodated on one?” the clerk of the court prosecuting at the trial inquired.
“Four,” the witness answered.
She also told the court that up to the time she left the group in January 2024, Omar Thompson and Jevaughn Thompson had assumed the leadership of the organisation. She positively identified both men, as well as Christopher Anderson, Roanalee Maitland, Jose Foskin, Vera Woolery, Melisha Thompson, Jodian Spence, Oral Spence, Nekeisha Harding, and Derrick Clarke as members whom she had known for approximately 10 years.
The trial will continue on October 11, when the witness’ evidence-in-chief will continue. All the defendants’ bails have been extended for them to return on that date.
Two witnesses from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency [CPFSA] previously testified for the prosecution when the trial began on April 8 this year.
The Qahal Yahweh group was previously in the spotlight in 2019, when the police removed six children, including a pregnant 16-year-old, from the compound. The church was under investigation at that time in relation to allegations that the group was conducting child marriages, as well as being involved in human trafficking, abduction, child abuse and sexual assault.