Gov't House signals ongoing probe into Education staff's role in CAHS sex abuse case

ST. CROIX — Failures by school officials to report sexual abuse of students are being investigated, according to a Government House spokesperson.

In response to media questions, Government House spokesperson Richard Motta Jr. said during a Monday press briefing that he “wouldn’t have any insight” as to whether anyone in the Education Department who was aware of convicted rapist Alfredo Bruce Smith’s crimes were still employed by the Education Department. “There is an ongoing investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and the Virgin Islands Department of Justice,” Motta said. “And so I don’t have any insight — nor am I privy to — any of the information in that investigation.”

Smith was sentenced to 35 years in prison in April after admitting to raping numerous victims over 15 years. He often filmed the assaults, and many of them occurred on campus. After months of prodding from media personnel, the Virgin Islands Government finally released a 19-page general audit into the Education Department’s handling of allegations of abuse last week from the non-profit Praed Foundation which found that territory schools lack safeguards for students and staff to report abuse without fear of retribution. The report was completed in March 2023. “The audit that was done by the Praed Foundation was essentially an audit to look at the reporting mechanisms and the protocols at the Department of Education,” Motta said on Monday. “It wasn’t investigatory in any form of, you know, related to any criminal act or any one specific case.”