The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

EXUMA MP Anthony Moss yesterday admitted that he made inquiries about a foreign man, currently at the Detention Centre, who was convicted of a sexual offence on behalf of the man’s “distraught” Bahamian wife who came to him for help.

However, Mr Moss denied that the inquiries were an attempt to use his political position to have the Dominican man freed.

“I can certainly tell you that his wife spoke to me,” Mr Moss explained to The Tribune, “and as a constituent of mine it is my duty to investigate. I went to the Detention Centre and I found out he had been there for more than a year. November 29 would have made it a year.

“So it was as a concerned member of parliament that I thought it was my job to find out the reason why he was being held there,” he said following the morning session of the House of Assembly.

“I have now been advised as to why he went and why he was being held there. The law has to take its course.”

His comments came a day after The Tribune exclusively reported that Exuma residents were concerned that the man would be allowed into their community because a prominent figure was reportedly lobbying for his release from the Detention Centre.

Following his two-year sentence at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for a sexual act on a minor in Exuma, the man was sent to the holding facility where a deportation order was signed to have him returned to the Dominican Republic, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell confirmed earlier this week.

Mr Mitchell said yesterday that Cabinet made a decision several months ago to have a deportation order signed for the man to be sent back to his home country.

Mr Mitchell added that despite the man’s appeal of the planned deportation order, he was still being held because the Immigration Board was still reviewing the matter.

On Monday, sources on the island insisted that the man, who lived with his Bahamian wife in a settlement in Exuma, had inflicted fear in the hearts of families who believe other children could be targeted if he is allowed to re-enter the community.

Residents believe that Mr Moss and two well-known clergymen on the island might sway the outcome of any decision that the Immigration Board makes.

The Tribune was told that the three men intervened based on the fact that the man has a family in Exuma who needs his financial support.

“The main concern down here is that, upon the urging of this prominent figure and these two religious men, he will be sent back to the island,” a concerned resident told The Tribune.

“But we believe that no matter his status, whether he has a work permit or spousal permit, he needs to go back home. And if his wife has a problem with that and he is devoted to her then he will take her to live with him in his country.”

George Smith, who served as the island’s representative for 29 years, said he was aware of the concerns.

“I am the proud father of two young women,” Mr Smith said, “and I think I could pretty much express what most parents in this country ought to feel when it comes to the sacredness of our young innocent ladies and young boys. In such instances the children become the victims of men, in this case a foreign man or even a local man, who feels that to fulfil his animalistic desires he will pounce on a child.

“If anyone is trying to intervene or lobby on this man’s behalf, they too should be condemned along with him. Society should condemn them without doubt.”