PORT OF SPAIN (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)
Trinidad and Tobago Guardian [Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago]
November 18, 2025
By Jensen La Vende
Five men who accused the State of failing to protect them against sexual and physical abuse at a children’s home in Belmont decades ago have filed a lawsuit suing the Roman Catholic Church and the State.
In a lawsuit filed on October 8, the men are suing the St Dominic’s Children’s Home (also referred to as the Belmont Orphanage), the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Port-of-Spain, the Attorney General, the Statutory Authorities Service Commission, and a former employee at the children’s home who was later charged with buggery, attempted buggery and serious indecency.
Guardian Media spoke to one of the five victims, who wished not to be identified because of the nature of the offences.
Asked how he felt about the matter, making strides towards being heard in court, he said, “I feel very good, to be honest. I feel very relaxed right now. I’m going through a lot of problems still, and this lawsuit has become like a blessing.”
The filing of the lawsuit comes after the men issued pre-action protocol letters in 2022, seeking at the time some $2.5 million for six alleged victims. Then attorney Gregory Delzin, now a senior counsel, said the lawsuit was filed outside the legal limit as allowed under the Limitation of Certain Actions Act.
According to the Act, a claim must be made within four years of the alleged offence. The lawsuit said the offences are alleged to have occurred between 1986 and 2005.
Attorneys Christlyn Moore, Joshua Hamlet and Adanna Joseph-Wallace are representing the men and must convince Justice Carol Gobin to accept their position that an exception to the limitation is needed before the lawsuit is adjudicated, in accordance with Section 9 of the Act. The matter comes up for hearing on Monday.
Asked about the possibility that the delay in filing the lawsuit may become a major issue, the now 45-year-old, who alleged that he was abused between 1986 to 1997, said: “It might be an issue, but at the end of the day, if this gets pushed to the Privy Council, I don’t think it will be an issue anymore for the Privy Council to accept these types of things.”
He added, “I listen to news a lot, actually. So, I know there are certain things that would get kicked under the rug, and there are certain things that the international community don’t accept at all. So, even if it doesn’t come true for us, I know the Privy Council, they don’t make jokes with those things. But I still feel that we would get something here, because we were kids when this happened!”
In their lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Church, the men claimed that “a senior representative in the church also carried out abusive acts against the claimants.”
It added that the church is “vicariously liable for the tortious actions and/or omissions of the children’s home.”
“The claimants allege that at all material times, the incidences of physical and sexual abuse perpetrated against them occurred while they were in custody and under the care of the first defendant. Each of the claimants gave statements to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, which detail the abuse they suffered,” the lawsuit stated.
The attorneys argued that the AG’s office is named in the lawsuit as it had control over the Statutory Authorities Service Commission, which was a State entity between 1991 and 1998, which hired the fifth defendant to work at the children’s home between 1991 and 1996, where he is alleged to have assaulted the then children.
Guardian Media contacted Attorney General John Jeremie, SC, who said he could not comment on the matter as he had not yet seen the documents.
In their claim against the former employee, the men alleged that the former Juvenile Home Supervisor I abused them up to his departure in 1996.
“The fifth defendant operated in a supervisory position over the wards in the care of the children’s home and carried out multiple acts of physical and sexual abuse against the claimants and/or contributed to creating an unsafe environment for their development and growth as minors. The fifth defendant stopped working at the children’s home around 1996.”
The incidents at the children’s home were first highlighted in a 1997 report commissioned by the State, which was kept out of the public spotlight until a 2021 report touching on the same issue was fully released. The first report was conducted by former policy advisor and diplomat Robert Sabga, while the second was done by former Appeal Court Judge Judith Jones.
Last year, a police team set up to investigate reports of abuse at children’s homes was disbanded, with the investigations left in abeyance since then.
A former employee at the children’s home, Junior Dexter Peters, 54, was charged in September 2022 for six offences, two for attempted buggery, three for serious indecency and one for buggery. The offences are alleged to have occurred between January 1994 and December 1997. He was also charged in 2021 with two offences of serious indecency and one offence of buggery that year. Last year, he was again charged with buggery.
Effects of alleged abuse
According to the claim, the men are suing for continuing trauma and inability to form healthy adult relationships; hypervigilance and bouts of aggression towards others; anxiety and nightmares throughout their lives; low concentration span, learning disabilities and low educational development; incomplete secondary school education and/or stunted educational development; loss of employment and future employment opportunities due to an inability to interact and/or collaborate with others; continuous questioning and trauma concerning their sexuality; suffering from lack of treatment for sexually transmitted infections; multiple attempts to commit suicide and continued suicidal ideation throughout adulthood; severe self-isolation and lack of adult social networks; diabetes in early adulthood; inability to sleep and consistent bouts of trauma; participation in criminal activities as minors due to negative influence and coercion from adults who had access to them through the homes; bouncing between various State institutions; arrests and imprisonment throughout their adolescence and early years; and treatment for psychiatric illness.
Cases of alleged abuse at children’s homes
1997 — Sabga Report exposes widespread sexual. physical and psycholigical abuse across homes
1990s–2000s — Alleged abuse at St Dominic’s Children’s Home leads to police probe decades later
2010s — Complaints continue across multiple homes: Survivors and staff reports beatings, neglect, and unsafe conditions at various state and faith-run homes
2021 — Judith Jones Task Force appointed following mounting pressure to review residential institutions for children.
2022 — Judith Jones report released: Finds systemic abuse, including physical punishment, emotional abuse, unsafe conditions, and institutional failures across many homes
2022 — Fresh allegations at St Dominic’s surface publicly. Church officials acknowledge reports; TTPS searches the home as part of an expanded probe
2022–2023 — Former employee charged for alleged sexual abuse of dozens of boys at St Dominic’s dating back decades
2023 — Follow-up investigations revisit Sabga and Jones findings: Police interview survivors from St Mary’s, St Dominic’s, St Jude’s, and other facilities
May 2024 — Couva Children’s Home crisis: Police remove children from the Couva Children’s Home and Crisis Nursery amid concerns about safety
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt