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Attorney Maria Daxon, representing a woman accused of libel against Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell questioned him about his romantic relationships during the trial yesterday in the Magistrates Court.

During her line of questioning which seemed cringy at times, Daxon asks Campbell, “Have you ever had a sweetheart?” She further asked Campbell if he had a son as a result of an illicit affair.

Daxon was immediately overruled by Magistrate Samuel McKinney who accused Daxon of going on a “fishing expedition.”

“This is not an inquiry. This is a trial,” McKinney reprimanded.

The big story

Campbell gave evidence in court yesterday during the trial of Capprio Saunders who is charged with intentional libel after releasing a voice note accusing the cabinet minister of impregnating the daughter of an alleged sweetheart.

In the voice note, the woman is heard telling listeners that Campbell told the woman “not to kill the baby” and that his wife “broke up all the glass in their house” when she heard of the situation.

What Minister Frankie Campbell said during the trial

Cambell called the claims made against him “untrue.”

He told the court, “I was most appalled as the father of three beautiful daughters and the grandfather of a beautiful granddaughter, at suggestions that I would have had sex with them.

“In my professional capacity, it’s most embarrassing having had the privilege to represent the Bahamas as part of the United Nations speaking out against matters such as these.

“Since then, I have been the butt of many unpleasant jokes and subjected to ridicule and embarrassment,” Campbell said.

What the officer in charge of the Digital Forensic and Investigation Unit said

Sargeant 1492 Dale Strachan said when he questioned the accused, she admitted that it was her voice in the recording.

He said the woman told him she had no information on who the purported “sweetheart” was but retrieved the allegations from a Facebook post which she did not verify before recording the voice note.

The trial will resume on August 4.

What the video shows

• The eight-minute-long video shows staff members administering punishment to children in a room where nearly 20 children are gathered.
• A woman dressed in scrubs is the first to issue punishment with a long, flexible stick as children queue to receive punishment.
• Five minutes and 30 seconds into the video, a flailing boy is held down and violently whipped atop a table, as he scrambles to be freed.
• Then a second boy is held down on the floor by three adults, to be whipped.
• Seven minutes into the video, a woman in a wheelchair rolls in, whipping a little boy with a stick as staff members laugh and cajole.

How Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell responds to the video

• Frankie Campbell said the matter will be investigated. “I reassure the public that this matter will be properly investigated. It will be partially investigated.
• “We will leave no stone unturned and we will let the chips fall where they may,” Campbell said.
• “If someone is culpable the chips will fall where they may.”
• “I’ve spoken to the chairman of the board at the Children’s Emergency Hostel (Arthur Peet) and we are on the same page.”
• He added, “I want to thank all who have expressed genuine concern…”

The Department of Social Services is still trying to locate the mother of a baby boy found in an abandoned house at the back of the Church of the Nazarene on East Street.

What happened

• Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, a baby boy who appeared to be approximately four days old, was found wrapped in a blanket at the rear of the church.
• Construction workers found the baby boy and an anonymous caller alerted police.

What neighbors say

67-year-old Edward Fox who lived in the neighbourhood for more than 40 years, told the Nassau Guardian, “Why she want a boyfriend if she can’t take care of children?

“That don’t make any sense. And you don’t know what that child could grow up to be.”

Fox said he has never seen something like this happened in the neighbourhood.

A 52-year-old Linda Darville said, “I don’t know who would do that. I ain’t see nobody. That’s the first time they have ever dropped a baby in the area. I’ve never seen that.”

And 53-year-old Leonard Neely said, “The mothers really need to take more responsibility for their kids. This is a nice, beautiful area, nice community we living through. We don’t have them things happen through here. So, it really shocked the whole community.”

What happens to the child now that he was found

• The child becomes a ward of the state and is in the Children’s Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
• The Ministry of Social Services has the legal right to make decisions for the child.
• The child can enter a children’s home at 6 weeks, where he will most likely end up.
• Adoption will not occur until a relative of the child comes forward.

Social services and police are appealing to the mother to come forward so that she receives the requisite medical care.

Free assistance is given to pregnant women through the Department of Social Services Hotlines: 322-2763 or 422-2763.