Toddler injured while in State care reunited with mother as probe intensifies

THE toddler believed to have been hurt during a court-ordered stay at the Glenhope Place of Safety in Kingston and whose injuries are now being probed by two State agencies is back in the care of his mother following her release from custody on Tuesday. The child’s parents — Haitian mother Fabienne Cherisma, who was recently arrested for overstaying her visa, alongside her husband who is said to have used fraudulent documents to obtain Jamaican citizenship — became aware of his condition on Friday when they were all taken before the St Catherine Parish Court so it could make a further order for him to remain in the custody of the State. According to attorney-at-law Denise Hinson, who made a successful bail application for the mother on Friday, the one-year-old looked “as if he was in an MMA (mixed martial arts) fight”, with “[healing] black and blue bruises under both eyes; what seemed to be burn marks to the right cheek and chin; swelling of the face, especially to the right cheek; and scratches to the nose” and both eyes bloodshot in the corners.

Hinson said the mother, when she caught sight of the child, “screamed and began to cry uncontrollably, while the father collapsed”. Both parents had to be removed from the dock so they could compose themselves before returning the Jamaica Observer was told. The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) on Monday, in responding to the situation, announced that it would be fast-tracking the installation of security cameras at the facility alongside its investigations into the matter.

According to the CPFSA, the issue is being treated with utmost urgency and importance as it “takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of child abuse”. It said based on the outcome of the investigation, it stands ready to execute all measures or sanctions regarding child abuse, in keeping with the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA 2004). The toddler was in the meantime reunited with his mother on Tuesday afternoon after the paperwork for her bail arrangement was completed.

Wednesday, the Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) indicated that it had also commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the injuries reportedly sustained by the one-year-old boy. Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison said the OCA first became aware of the incident through a media report published on August 11, 2026 and up …