Judge sends teen to US bootcamp

| 19/11/2010

(CNS): A 16-year-old boywho pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed firearm is facing an alternative to prison after a judge revealed he wanted to send the troubled teen to a specialist wilderness programme in the US. Justice Smith said he believed the youngster should be given one more opportunity to change his behaviour and felt he would benefit from the specialist programme. The judge directed crown council to consult with the attorney general for a certificate of approval for the Second Nature Wilderness programme in Georgia, where he recommended the juvenile attend a programme before going on to a boarding school in Utah.

Explaining his decision for the order in the Grand Court on Friday morning, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the Cayman Islands, the judge said, “ It is my own view that we must give this youngster one more opportunity to make good on his life.”

Justice Smith said he felt the specialist rehabilitation programme could deal with his behaviour, anger management and substance abuse problems better than a probation order. He noted that although there may be no precedent in the jurisdiction for his choice of sentencing, the court should not be deterred from trying to find the most appropriate course of action.

The judge said he wished to see if the young offender “could be placed on the right track to make something of his life.” In his ruling Justice Smith noted that the young man had pleaded guilty and expressed a deep regret over the place he had found himself in and wanted an opportunity to change his lifestyle. He said that the young offender’s parents had identified the programme which the young man’s social worker had agreed would be of benefit to him.

The boy had been charged with the offence following his arrest during a police operation in West Bay in May of this year. The defendant was with a crowd of other young people in front of an open garage in the Mount Pleasant area who all fled when police approached the location. One officer chased the teenage boy and stated that he saw the young man throw an object into a yard. The object turned out to be a load semi-automatic hand gun, which the teen told police belonged to an older boy in the crowd.

The young defendant said after his arrest that it was the first time he had ever seen the firearm that day and he did not know it was loaded. He stated that he had been told to pick it up and hide the gun behind the property by the older boy when the police approached the garage and he was too afraid not to do as he had been asked

Although firearms offences carry a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment when a guilty plea is entered under the 2005 Firearms Law, the judge said that as a juvenile that statute did not apply in this case.

Justice Smith indicated that he believed the youth justice law guided this case. The judge said that had the country’s legislators intended that the firearms law to over ride the law’s governing the prosecution of young offenders they would have indicated that in the legislation.

As a result the judge was free to impose a sentence under the youth justice law and said he felt that a rehabilitation order was the best way of dealing with the teen. Justice Smith adjourned the court for two weeks in order for the crown to inspect the centre in Georgia where the judge has indicated he would liketo seen the young offender sent.

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  1. Just Applaudin' says:

    BRAVO Judge!  At last a decision that bespeaks of humanity and justice. The judge should be knighted.

    Sentencing a child to a prison term or a harsh custodial sentence would ensure his initiation into the criminal world. Judging by the comments opposing the judges decision and calling for a prison term, I guess some people think we need to train more young people to be hardened criminals.

    To the boy I say: "Son, you did something really , really stupid but you have been treated more than fairly and received a second chance. Learn from your mistake, get your life in order, make new (law-abiding) friends when you get back home, and STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!

    To those criticising the judge and calling for harsher treatment of this wayward child, I say: "You are all brain dead!"

  2. Anonymous says:

    Where the judge has recommended that this young offender go is NOT a boot camp and it is totally over priced.

    If the judge and the government is looking for somewhere to send these troubled boys then they need to look into ROBERT LAND ACADEMY in Canada. This is what these young men need to correct their behaviour and to get the education that they need.

    ROBERT LAND ACADEMY is not overpriced for what you get – certainly not the ridiculous price of the one recommended by the judge at $425 per day for a minimum of 47 days. Furthermore, you cannot change these criminals in 47 days.

     

  3. Anonymous says:

    I think that it is wonderful that our courts/government has made the decision to send this young man away to try and "change his life" however what makes him so special that he gets this option when we have so many other young offenders in our prison system who I am sure could have been "saved" by this type of intervention and it has not been offered to them or their families. This is not fair and is downright discriminatory.  I SAY WHAT IS FOR ONE SHOULD BE FOR ALL why should some peoples kids get special treatment and the chance to succeed and others not. The funds being used are public funds and the option should be open to all young offenders.

    • Anonymous says:

      He plead guilty and showed remorse and he is a juvenile.

      • Anonymous says:

        So he is the only juvenile to have ever plead guilty. Stop posting nonsense to try and justify this unfair decision I said ALL and I mean ALL juveniles (young offenders) should be given this opportunity.

    • Anonymous says:

       awwwwwww. I wanna go to camp….

  4. Anonymous says:

    THIS DECISION MAKES A COMPLETE MOCKERY OF THE CAYMAN JUDICAIL SYSTEM!!!!!

    So, let me get this straight: A youth has been found in possession of an illegal firearm, resists arrest by fleeing from the police and is known to have "substance abuse" (lets call it what it really is shall we – THE KID IS A REGULAR DRUG USER!!!) issues.

    I love how the judge declares that " it could deal with his behaviour, anger management and substance abuse problems better than a probational order". Nice one judge! – You’ve just sent an unhinged, chemically inbalanced, gun packing ‘wanabe gangsta’ on a camping trip!!!

    All the judge does is hand out a trip to a "DAY SPA" in a scenic part of the USA. Please check the web site of this so called "Boot Camp" (…Really CNS???!!!).  http://www.snwp.com/ . BOOT CAMP MY A$$!!!!

    Then again, they probably wear walking boots and sleep in tents… Right after they’ve finished eating their toasted camp-fire marshmellows!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!?????

    If I was to even let my firearms license laps by 1 week out of date and then get found transporting it back from the ranges by a police check point, you (the judiciary) would have no quams about nailing me to a cross and thoroughly makinging an example out of me!!! – I’m fairly sure there is (suppose to be) a M A N D A T O R Y  10 yr prison sentance for that sort of thing??? – And that would be with out me having "Substance Abuse issues", "Anger Management issues" and resisting arrest by running away from that police check point.

    XXXXX

    This youth is laughing his a$$ of right now at all of us and has no idea at just how lucky he got. – He is victorious now as he has managed to increase his "Street Cred / Rep".

    In the event this 1 of you reading this 5 years from now catch 1 of his bullets, I really dont want to hear about it. You had your chance to deal with him effectively and failed!

    Your double standards are bull $#!*!!!!!

     

    • Anonymous says:

      I think you have anger management issues and should join the youngster for a week or two.

  5. Anonymous says:

    It is a fact that a young boy’s brain is not fully developed until his early twenties. Hard as it maybe to accept, a male teenager’s  ability to make rational judgements is not the same as a mature adult. It is therefore appropriate to put aside instinctive reactions, like, "throw away the key", and give young offenders the chance of a better future. I believe the judge made a good decision. If the teenager proves the judge wrong, he still will have made the right decision.

    • Anonymous says:

      What about teenagers held without bail for over a year and then it’s subsequently discovered they did not have anything to do with the crime?

      Will they get their innocence back? Should the police officers/government be forced to account for that damage? Why cant the judges also consider bail when an offender has claimed his innocence, is very young, and first time offender?

      Justice must not only be done but appear to be done…

  6. Mrs. Rita Myles says:

     I’m well pleased with this Judge decision, our young youths are really a big problem now to society and they need mentors to lead them on the right path.  Jail is not always the answer,especially the LAVISH prison HOTEL we have in Northward, the criminals love going there because they treat them all like Kings and Queens.  Tougher and Stiffer sanctions should be brought frwd in the Court of Law against Northward Prison about how they treat prisoners like Royals.  Our MLAs should all be addressing this very important issue for I know they have heard the people speak about this one too many time and its high time they enforce a tougher law to treat PRISONERS as CRIMINALS but not as ROYALS that they wont want to go back there!!!

  7. I wonder why so many posters are worrying about who will pay.  Who pays when he is old enough to commit a crime as an adult and is sent to Northward.  I always heard an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  If it helps in the long run to prevent one youth from becoming a hardened criminal I say it is well worth the cost.  We are slowly but surely losing our future generation as the ones who are not killed are the ones doing the killing and eventually end up serving long prison terms.  This is a step forward in the right direction.  Kudos to Justice Smith for such a forward thinking plan.

  8. Anon says:

    This all depends on the AG applying for the certificate which is just not gong to happen. allow youths to escape the mandatory 7 years on guilty plea for a  firearm and the adult gangsters will make sure the youths carry and store their guns as part of their rights of passage into the gangs.  It will be interesting to see if the AG seeks to refer this case to the court of appeal as an unduly lenient sentence.  The firearms law is clear – mandatory sentences subject to exceptional circumstances.  

  9. Anonymous says:

    I think it’s good that this young man was given a second chance. I hope he will take this opportunity and do something great with his life.

    On the other hand was anyone else ever charged for this gun. What happen to the man who gave this young boy the gun and told him to run with it. Was a name given by the teenage, if so was the gun checked for this persons DNA.  Was ballistics done on this gun to see if any of the violent crimes committed could have been at the hands of someone with this gun. I really hope so.

  10.  come on peeps if it was your kid,you would be saying something different.why is everyone asking about cost,when if he went to northward it could cost us $50k times 5 or more years,you do the math.

  11. Anonymous says:

    There are two stages involved in correcting youth problems in any society.

    First, there is punishment/rehabilitation. This is done after a youth has done a bad thing. In the case above, it is wonderful to see the justice system attempt to match a just punishment/rehabilitation to the individual circumstance that has happened around the bad thing. This is the way justice should work; a refreshing and enlightened contrast to the many uneducated posts on this forum that assume a goodbeating will set things straight.

    Second, there is the far more effective way to correct youth problems; and that is through prevention. Prevention is hard, unglamourous and often poorly paid work (contrasted against the high pay and prestige lawyers get). An effective prevention mechanism is education; especially education that targets young women. The education must include pregnancy prevention coupled with easy access to pregnancy prevention technology and, when that doesn’t work, education in the care of a baby both before and after the birth. Many of the young people in prison were dealt a bad hand at birth; they were unwanted, unloved, un-nurtured, often abused pre-natally by mothers who consumed drugs like nicotine, alcohol, ganga etc and then abused after birth through neglect. What a tragedy.

    When we neglect our young, vulnerable, immature teenage girls today, get ready for the reslult by building prisons for their children 18 years down the road.

     

     

  12. Anonymous says:

     

    1-Yes I think the family should be hold accountable for the coast, they have at least part of the responsibility for their kid to be with the wrong people.
    2- It is not huge cost if you are going to buy back your kid life and future.
    3- You also going to stop a starting chain of trouble to him his sibling (if any) his friends and the community in general.
    4-you can check the link to one of these facilities in Georgia.

    http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/Divisions/Corrections/BootCamps.html

    http://www.teenhelponline.com/bootcamps/index.php?q=georgia

    What kind of extra charges beyond tuition are there?
    $2,500 start up cost plus $500.00 for uniform, and any evaluations, medications or medical necessities. Parent Weekends are held on-site every 90 days (an additional nominal fee applies)

  13. Anonymous says:

    I am all in favour of trying to ensure that the junior gangstas and wanna be thugs out there get their lives straight and are transformed into productive citizens. However, is there any actual evidence that this particular programme achieves positive long term results?

    There are many of these types of programmes around. Most exist to extract profit from desperate parents who have the money to pay. These programmes do not achieve anything positive and the teens who graduate from them go straight back to their old neighbourhoods and their old ways.  The few that straighten out usually do so because they do not go back to their old neighbourhoods but instead their parents move them to a completely different part of the US where they are no longer exposed to their gangsta buddies.

    Their needs to be actual evidence and not just the social workers opinion that this particular person has a high probability of ending his criminal career through this programme before public money is wasted and the punishments set out in the law are ignored.  The report does not mention whether the usual 5 year sentence was to be suspended to see if this young man does turn his life around. Hopefully that is the case.

  14. Anonymous says:

     Why do the Government not send the Premier, the Deputy, two Ministers, the AG, Head of Civil Service and Head of Prisons  to the US and Canada for a couple of weeks to check out the alternative facilities. Oh I forgot we must not forget our country business guru, the Pastor, Chief Education Officer and the usual entourage of party followers commonly known as specialist consultants.  Then of course there are the security guards, drivers and sundry others.  They could prepare a report of their findings to the public sometime before the next election and when the current opposition return to power they could actually build their own hundred million dollar boot camp facility which of course they will tell you is the more economic option than sending youth away.

    In all seriousness this suggestion from the Judge is outstanding and should be developed with families being forced to contribute.  It might take some of the attitude off the street, have families suddenly realise their responsibilities and in the long run be more economical for all as hopefully our prison will be less full and cheaper to operate and tourists will start coming back to a safer society.

  15. Anonymous says:

    One step forward in saving our young people and givingthem a better chance in Society.  It will add some greater values to His/her life.   

  16. Pit Bull says:

    Guns = 5 years in jail.

    Now all the gangstas will let the kids in their gang keep the guns, because they know that all that will happen is "boot camp".

     

  17. Anonymous says:

    Great idea.  This could really turn this young man’s life around.  As for paying.  We would have to pay to keep him in Northward anyway and I would rather pay for something which might just have a positive outcome so if the Govt. (us)  has to pay, well so be it. 

  18. Recently Enlightened says:

    I believe that Cayman should have its own bootcamp program. There are many teens and young adults that could benefit from this. There are many former military servicemembers and veterans here on the island, as well as former policemen that I am sure would assist in making this a valuable program.

    • Anonymous says:

      Its own boot camp;Then every body would come on this site and trash it and the officials who operate it like how they are trashing the police ,immigration, the prison and customs. They would call in on talk shows and complain that the para military persons who run it are not Caymanians and Cayman is not used to their youths being handled so harshly. Parents and relatives would take exception to the punishment meeted out "our young people at that institution" and call on their MLAs to "do something about it". The long and short of it is let it be in the USA where parents and family members can’t attack the operation(remember Tranquility Bay?) and can’t open their mouths to the para -military who runs it. We in this Islands think we must have our own cayman style on everything.There somethings that are better done outside these shores where there is impartiality an lack of interferance from our John and Jane public.

    • Backstorke says:

      You beleive that Cayman should have its own bootcamp. I wholeheartedly agree with you. BUT GUESS WHAT, the bleeding hearts here will be on this blog and in the face of everyone thats involved with it. They  do not want any type of authority figure disciplining their child.Teachers, police,church, good neighbors, all will get an earful of tongue lashing from the parents.

      Some of these so called parents need a bootcamp them selves, they make parenting a sham.They have no idea what it takes or mean to be a parent.

      Kudos to the justice system that have looked outside the box on this one.

      I have heard parents that have unruly teenagers and know it say that they would not allow their child to be sent to any type of discipline school and today that child is a menace to their  community.So all praise go to the Judge with the kahunas to pass the judgement.

      • Bobby Anonymous says:

        Great Idea!

        Sign me up I’ll run it! It wont bother me if no one loves me, but I tell you what, when I am done they won’t want to come back.

        1/ Live in tents.

        2/ Clean the beaches.

        3/ Clean/paint public properties.

        4/ Do the the older folks yard work.

        5/ Dig the graves.

        And every last one of them would be wearing high vis green clothing.

        Oh yeh!! Give me the job. Pleeeeeeeeease!!!

        And for all those that think It’s wrong, well you lot can do their laundry,

        tuck them in at nights and swat the little biddy mosquitos. 

         

         

        • Anonymous says:

          Aren’t you missing out the the tough workouts at 4.00am, tough army drills twice a day, cooking their own food, washing dishes, doing their own laundry, cleaning their own toilets with a toothbrush……..

          Would go for bright yellow rather than green:)

  19. Anonymous says:

    I hope his parents will pay the bill for the inspection and the cost of putting the boy there.

    • Anonymous says:

      Really! Then the parents of all those in Northward should also pay – teens and adults.  The Govt is paying for all – this teen is no exception!

  20. Anonynous says:

    That’s a great idea, Kudo,s to the judge, Now that’s thinking outsidethe box. Many will complain about who will pay, but I think that’s money well invested and I pray he will do well and be a good example to others to follow and maybe just maybe we can do something similar here one day. Now that’s good news.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agree.  Better the money be spent on something more constructive and hopefully productive rather than sitting idly around in Northward being totally unproductive with more bad influence.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Thats good… Finally a constructive punishment for the young people to help guide them instead of being placed somewhere where there are no good influences

  22. Anonymous says:

    Who will pay for that?

    • Rabble Rouser says:

      The same people who pay if he doesn’t go, or if he goes and doesn’t change his behaviour.

  23. Anonymous says:

    It sounds like a positive alternative but expensive, who will pay for this ?

  24. Anonymous says:

    Good idea.  There should be more use of bootcamps.  In fact, somebody should organise one here for these young men and women.

  25. anonymous says:

    Yes I agree, our Caymanian young people should be sent away to a boot Camp, because continuing to grow up in this invironment with bad influence will turn them into criminals.  A real good consideration by the judge.

    Now please send all of the risk harden criminals to England to serve their long sentence.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why England? The prisons there are full already and are sending ‘foreigners’ back to their place of origin.

  26. Cat says:

    I actually agree with the judge and his decision. I believe more troubled youths should be placed in these types of programmes, and give them a  fighting chance to change their lives and see the light. More so, the judicial and social services department can truly say they tried. Getting out of their present environments, and doing something completely different outside their comfort zones can be completely life changing in a positive way. More so, it gives youths the space to explore their talent and abilities for good, with out the pressures from peers and family they regularly experience, that may have contributed to their decisions to do wrong, or hang with the wrong crowd.

    It does not benefit the youth or even older prisoners, by just locking them away, without actually making some effort to rehabilitate them, and assist them with their problems.All you are doing is taking them from one unproductive bad environment and putting them into another,but this time only being surrounded by those who have commited crimes,are accustomed to unproductivity and contribute to maintaining a bad environment.

    In terms of our  present prison system, I truly believe the rules need to change, where it becomes mandatory for inmates to participate in all educational and counselling programmes as part of their sentence,or in order to shorten their sentence or be eligible for parole. They really should have to work and improve themselves to earn their freedom.

  27. Mark How says:

    And who would pay for this?

    • Anonynous says:

      Mark how, have you been sleeping or what ? We pay one way or another.Do you get it now! read before you write and pay attention. We also said some parents who have the means could be made to pay also’

    • Anonymous says:

       "And who would pay for this?"

      Like the other person same the same people that will pay with him in Northward or set loose in society.

      Premier, Deputy, other MLAs, and drivers don’t need to check the facilities.  1. Google is your friend 2. Surprise visits

       

      To the poster about Tranquility Bay: kids have died in these boot camps so they need to be checked out throughly.  These children are human beings like you and me.  They don’t deserve to be beaten or starved to death.