BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE three teenage girls who had escaped from the New Horizons Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre on Sunday (Jun. 15) were found and are currently in police custody.
A communiqué from the Police Press and Public Relations Officer, Inspector Lyndon David, stated that the three juveniles were located and are in custody along with the persons who harboured them.
The communiqué stated that newly-promoted Superintendent Charles Smithen and members of the Criminal Investigation Department as well as officers from the Tabernacle Police Station conducted an operation between 11:30 p.m. on Monday (Jun. 23) and 1:00 a.m. on the following day and “tracked and located the three juveniles who absconded from the New Horizons Rehabilitation Centre on Sunday, 15 June 2014”.
“All three juveniles are in police custody and so are the persons with whom they were located,” it added.
The communiqué also stated that Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn wishes to inform the general public that it is a crime to harbour runaways and, in this case, “absconded juveniles”.
It informs that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions would be contacted for advice on charging the juveniles and the individuals who harboured them.
“Commissioner Walwyn also takes this opportunity to thank everyone, especially newly-appointed Police Superintendent Charles Smithen and his team who were instrumental in the investigation process locating these absconders,” the communiqué added.
According to a well-informed source, the teenagers were harboured by an ex-employee (male) of the Centre, who was removed from the facility for allegedly providing an illegal drug to a number of juveniles there.
The source also stated that the 35-year-old ex-employee is no stranger to the main law enforcement body, for he has had brushes with the law on several occasions.
Speaking to the Rehabilitation Centre, the source said that “there is no legislation in place for regulations to provide for the functionality or operationalisation of the Centre” and, because of that, “no Court in St. Kitts has the legal authority to commit anyone to the Centre”.
The source however informed that children at the Centre are on care order and are being placed in the custody of one of the staff members.
“The three girls were in the care of the Director of the Rehabilitation Centre and the Juvenile Act makes providence for them to be in the care of a fit person. But because there was no legislation, the children should not be charged for escaping from the Centre; for they were never in custody.”
The New Horizons Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre became fully functional at the beginning of this year and is said to be the gateway to turning around the lives of delinquent youths.
The unisex residential facility is a replacement for the Harris’ Home which was destroyed by fire many years ago.
