St James Parish Court Discharges 16 Qahal Yahweh Members After Prosecution Fails to Prove Case

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Sixteen people connected to the Qahal Yahweh religious organisation left the St James Parish Court as free persons on Wednesday, after the judge found that prosecutors had not established a case against them on charges linked to child endangerment.

The ruling closes a trial that began in April 2024, more than two years before Presiding Parish Court Judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce accepted a no-case submission from defence attorneys Peter Champagnie and Samoi Campbell.

The accused had faced counts under the Child Care and Protection Act and the Education Act following police operations at the group's compound in Montego Bay, St James, in 2023.

In their submission, defence counsel argued that the Crown had not produced sufficient evidence to support the allegations. They said references to unsanitary conditions at the site did not meet the legal threshold needed to show that children's health had been put at risk. The lawyers also noted that the identities of the children said to be affected were never established during the trial, and that the school operating on the property had received provisional approval from the relevant authorities.

The charges grew out of two police raids in June 2023. During the first operation on June 7, authorities removed 23 children, aged between one and 17 years, from the compound and placed them in state care. A second operation on June 30 led to the arrest of the 16 defendants.

Over the course of the trial, the court heard evidence from six witnesses, including a former member of the group, three representatives from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency, an assistant registrar from the Ministry of Education's Independent Schools Branch, and the investigating officer.

The religious group first drew national attention in 2019, when police removed six children from the compound during a separate intervention, including a pregnant 16-year-old girl.

With the court's ruling that there was no case for the defendants to answer, all 16 accused have been discharged.