723 kids missing - Over 1,000 people unaccounted-for since January

KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator
Monday, October 06, 2008



Jullene Edwards, 15, missing since September 9. (Photo: CCN)

More than 700 children have been reported missing since the start of the year, according to figures released by the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) last week. The figure represents 65 per cent of the 1,112 persons listed as missing between January 1 and September 23 this year.

Two of the 723 children reported missing have been found dead.

They are 11-year-old Aamir Scott, whose dissected remains were found in bushes at Sandside district in St Mary where he lived, and 15-year-old Baggio Easy, whose decomposing remains were found in water on the edge of the Riverton City landfill in early September this year.

An on-the-spot post-mortem revealed that Easy drowned, while a teenager has been charged with the gruesome murder of Aamir Scott after police said he confessed to killing the child.

Up to yesterday, police were still awaiting the results of a DNA test to determine the identity of a child's body found in Red Hills, St Andrew last week.

Relatives of 11-year-old Ananda Dean believe that it was her body that was found, arguing that a shoe and school tunic found at the scene belonged to the missing child.

Police reported that of the 1,112 persons who were listed as missing, 353 have been found or returned home.

However, the police were not able to say how many of the missing children have been found.

The police say the majority of youngsters who go missing are girls who often run away from home only to be found holed up with a male partner or who return home voluntarily.

"A lot of times the persons who reported the children missing are so overjoyed that they sometimes forget to report that the child was found," Deputy Superintendent Sonia James of the CCN told the Observer.

Since the start of the year, 58 children have been murdered.
Some of the persons reported missing are:

. Jullene Edwards, 15 - Left home in Harbour View to visit her mother in Gordon Town, St Andrew on September 23 and has not been seen or heard from since:

. Chivaughn Haughton, 14, of Olympic Gardens, St Andrew - Missing since September 19. Police say Chivaughn is of dark complexion, slim build and 157 centimetres tall. Chivaughn left home for an undisclosed location and has not been seen since. She was wearing a purple blouse, blue jeans pants and a pair of black slippers when she went missing;

. Dave Davis, 32, otherwise called 'Spangler' of Guava Road, St Andrew has been reported missing since Wednesday, August 27. He is of brown complexion, slim build and about 5 feet 8 inches tall;

. Javane Patterson of Tower Avenue, St Andrew. Police say on September 19 Javane left his home and has not been seen or heard from since;

. Nerryssa Hitulah, 15, otherwise called 'Paige' of Evans Avenue, St Johns Heights, St Catherine - Missing since Monday, August 25; and

. Seventy-two-year-old Gloria Scott of Spanish Town, St Catherine. Police say on August 24 the elderly woman walked out of her home and has not been seen since.

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DPP office bungle - Boy charged with carnal abuse is 13, not 11 years old

BY PAUL HENRY Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, October 07, 2008



A charge of carnal abuse against a schoolboy was not withdrawn in the Home Circuit Court yesterday because the youth is not 11 years old as was earlier reported by the Observer on information from a prosecutor.

Paula Llewellyn, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court yesterday that her office had confirmed that the boy was in fact 13 years old and not an 11-year-old as was reported by the Daily Observer on September 26 and in an article published in this week's Sunday Observer.

As a result of the age mix-up, Llewellyn told the court that she will now be asking defence lawyers to furnish certified copies of the birth certificate of any accused whose case is being transferred from the Family Court.

In blasting the Sunday Observer story, Llewellyn suggested that the article seemed to be "calculated to undermine the
public's confidence" in the justice system.

However, Llewellyn made her accusation against the newspaper after being informed by this reporter that the incorrect information in the September 26 story was provided by her office.

The claim that the charge against the boy would have been withdrawn yesterday and which was reported in this week's Sunday Observer story, was made to the newspaper by a second prosecutor who also knocked the Office of the DPP for sloppy work on the case.

"No preparation was done by the Crown, and now everybody is left with eggs on their faces," said the prosecutor, who had requested anonymity.

The youth and three other boys, 13 years to 14 years old, were jointly charged with carnal abuse for sexually assaulting a schoolmate in January and February of this year.

Presiding judge, Justice Bertram Morrison said in court yesterday that he had verified the ages of the boys before he took their guilty pleas when the matter was first brought before him on Thursday, September 25 after being transferred from the Family Court.

The boys' mothers, who were present in court yesterday, also confirmed their ages.

The boys, who are currently on $50,000 bail, were also scheduled for sentencing yesterday but the sentence hearing was put off until October 24 because all the social inquiry reports were not ready. The boys' lawyer was also absent from court.

The Child Care and Protection Act, which replaced the Juvenile Act in 2004, prevents any child under age 12 from being charged or convicted for any offence, including murder.

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Billions in arms - Police say lottery scam funding weapons purchase in St James

published: Friday | October 3, 2008

Nagra Plunkett, Assignment Coordinator


Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer in charge of the Area One Police Division. - Photo by Noel Thompson

WESTERN BUREAU:

DESPITE POLICE efforts to break the back of the lottery scam in St James, the scheme remains vibrant and is reportedly pumping billions of dollars into the criminal underworld.

"If you look in recent times at the calibre weapons that are recovered by the police, the amount of rounds, ammunition being expended and recovered at crime scenes and the motives, investigations point to the lotto scam," Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer in charge of the Area One Police Division, told The Gleaner during a visit to its Western Bureau offices in Montego Bay yesterday.

Frater, who has responsibility for the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland, described the scam as a "unique challenge to law enforcement".

"It is a clear indication that billions of dollars are in circulation coming from this scheme."

He further stated: "If you look at some communities, the sudden rise to fame in terms of assets (such as) houses and motor cars, these are not cheap. The lifestyles of some persons clearly demonstrate the volume of cash that is being circulated."

The lotto scam involves fleecing unsuspecting Americans of large sums of money. Local scam artists use illicitly obtained personal information on potential victims, particularly retirees, to con them into sending them money on the pretext that they have won a lottery and need to send a processing fee to claim their winnings.

Police information indicates that players, who also include schoolchildren, make US$4,000 (J$288,000) to US$10,000 (J$720,000) on average weekly.

The lotto scam has also been linked to several murders, kidnappings and robberies in St James, which accounts for 12 per cent of the country's crime rate.

Frater, who managed the Criminal Investigation Branch portfolio before his transfer to Area One last month, noted that despite some disappointment with the cooperation of potential complainants, investigators will be using the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering Acts to counter lotto players.

"Investigation of this sort is not a one slam thing. It is going to take some time to get our case together. We have some success, we have had persons' properties forfeited, persons have gone to prison, and there are a number of other persons from St James in the waiting gallery to go to prison," the Frater said.

nagra.plunkett@gleanerjm.com

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Lottery scammers go regional

Lottery scammers who operated out of St James have reportedly moved their operations to other Caribbean islands because of increased pressures from the authorities here.

Police intelligence has revealed that several suspected lottery scammers are travelling across the region to collect money transferred to them by unsuspecting victims.

Citizens and residents in the United States are the primary targets.

However, newly appointed commanding officer in charge of Area One, Assistant Commissioner Denver Frater, refused to say what countries form part of the police investigations.

He said a number of police personnel in Montego Bay have been placed under the radar of the Area One Police High Command for their alleged involvement in the ongoing lottery scam.

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Jamaicans eating less of what they grow

PATRICK FOSTER, Observer writer
Friday, October 03, 2008



(L-R) Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture representative in Jamaica, Cynthia Currie; permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Donovan Stanberry; and Dr Dunstan Campbell, Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Jamaica, field questions at Tuesday's launch of World Food Day at the ministry's Hope Road, Kingston headquarters. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) Only 39 per cent of the foodstuff that is consumed in the island is locally produced, pushing the country's food import bill over $662 million and threatening the success of government's "eat what you grow, grow what you eat" drive.

"Sixty-one per cent of products in the food basket are import-based," Donovan Stanberry, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture said Tuesday, adding that Jamaica's food bill was rising at an alarming rate, standing at $479 million in 2002 and climbing to $662m in November 2007.

"This is a major statement on our level of dependency, hence our vulnerability to external shocks," said Stanberry.
He was speaking at the launch of World Food Day at the agriculture ministry on Hope Road in Kingston.

World Food Day will be observed October 16 under the theme 'World Food Security: The Challenge of Climate Change and Bioenergy'.

"Given the prospects of continuing increases in prices, we (Jamaica) must attempt to reduce dependence on imports for consumption," Stanberry warned.

According to Stanberry, the "frightening" situation has led the agriculture ministry, through the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA), to implement several strategies to stimulate local production.

He said that greenhouse clusters are being established to significantly increase production of fruits and vegetables that will consistently produce "what the market requires".

Focus is also being placed on the production of tubers, Stanberry said, and meetings have been held with yam farmers and the Irish potato growers' association.

An increase in the numbers, and improved training for agriculture extension officers was also critical, said Stanberry, who added that overseas training of additional officers was being conducted.

He added that a revitalisation of the dairy industry, through the disbursement of loans to dairy farmers was under way.
"We are providing loans to increase pasture and improve our breed and undertake rapid multiplication," Stanberry said. "People are taking up the loans," he added.

Stanberry, however, charged that food security was more than simply producing food.

"We have to build infrastructure, increase the number of extension officers and improve the marketing and distribution network," said Stanberry. "That's why we have been improving RADA."

He added that the ministry would also be promoting the food security programme in schools, and plans to have 900 school gardens in three years to "lay the foundation for a sustainable programme".

The permanent secretary declared that while many people frowned on government's backyard garden kits as a gimmick, empirical evidence proved that planting the items in the kit could save as much as $12,000 per year in food bills.

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