Boys' club under fire

Child advocates are upset with a boys’ club’s response to the criminal conviction of its leader.

Milton Richardson, 56, was found guilty earlier this month of four counts of touching a boy [he was under 13] for a sexual purpose while in a position of trust; he had kissed the boy on the mouth, ear and neck, the court found. He is yet to be sentenced.

Mr Richardson was executive director for youth mentoring programme De Boys Day Out Club, which he founded in 1995. 

Its board issued a statement to clarify what it felt were misconceptions about the case in the media. But there was no apology to the victim of the crime and critics say the statement appeared to downplay the matter, while imploring parents to retain trust in the club.

ZBM reported that the mother of the victim was upset with the response, suggesting it belittled what had happened.

The seven-member board’s statement read in part: “An error in judgment was made and a social taboo occurred, of a man kissing a boy. Milton was deemed guilty of four counts of kissing… There was no touching or caressing and he was not found guilty of such. None of these are behaviours that this organization would ever condone or allow.

“Our board, represented by seven other board members and other male mentors, implore the public to not crucify our organization nor our executive director, whose mission is to provide male mentoring to school-aged boys through quality training programmes and wholesome activities.”

Sheelagh Cooper, chairwoman for the Coalition for the Protection of Children, was among those to criticize the board for its reaction.

“The board doesn’t recognize they have responsibility,” she said. “They have not accepted responsibility. They clearly don’t appreciate the nature of the offence or the seriousness of the offence.”

She added, “They allowed him to continue to work for a year after he was accused. That was problematic... they’re more concerned with the welfare of the organization than the welfare of the child.”

The reference to a social taboo, said Ms. Cooper, indicates a lack of appreciation of “the nature of what went on here”.

“The individual who perpetrated this is not in the organization,” she said. “The fact that the organization doesn’t appreciate the nature of the offence means it could easily happen again with other members of the organization.”

She added, “If they want to continue to function, a huge apology to the community and to the child and the family would have been a good start.”

De Boys Day Out Club is a charitable organization which, according to its website, was “formed to provide a nurturing environment that fosters respect and responsibility in young men and engages them in community service projects to develop character and a sense of purpose”.

Jon Brunson, co-executive director of SCARS (Saving Children and Revealing Secrets), suggests the organization go through “some sort of child protection training…

“It’s important to say that what Milton has been charged with and convicted of is a reflection of the choices he made, not the organization,” Mr Brunson told us.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the organization is internalizing the behaviour of one individual. They should express sensitivity to the victim.”

He added: “We need to shift the paradigm where the concern is about the child — the innocent child victim — and not the perpetrator… We need to support and help the child transition from victim to survivor.”

It’s unclear whether the group will be stripped of its charity status or if any of its sponsors will cease supporting the group. We spoke to some of the sponsors but they were not forthcoming. 

It’s also unclear if Mr. Richardson, who, according to the club’s website, was awarded The Queens Certificate, Badge of Honour, on December 31, 2002, would be stripped of such a title. 

The Bermuda Sun understands that the club’s statement was designed to provide reassurance that the club is still running a suitable programme.

We have been told that the board’s intention was not to defend Mr Richardson and that no apology was given because there was a ‘misconception’ about what happened.

The statement concluded: “There is a huge need in this country for on-going male mentoring in support of our young men. Our work will and must go [on]. 

“When adversity strikes, the nature of a man is truly tested. Now is not the time to cower, but as an organization that has built itself over the years to be greater than its founder, to press on. The first mentees are now mentors within the club. Even this past year, our numbers have grown. We assure, we implore you, your sons, your boys are safe with us.”

Meanwhile, Saltus, where Mr Richardson worked, shared a statement with us.

This is an excerpt from a letter sent by the school head, Mrs Claire Charlemagne, to the parental body on the newspaper report about Mr Richardson’s conviction: “We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear this news. Mr Richardson was employed as a consultant behavioural therapist at Saltus between May 2006 and June 2010. We have contacted the Vulnerable Persons Unit of the Bermuda Police Service and they are not aware of any other allegations against Mr Richardson at this time.

“We have no reason to believe that any children in our care have been affected, however, we would like to ensure that parents and students are able to voice any concerns they may have. 

“We take the safety and wellbeing of our students extremely seriously.”

Parents were given contact information if they wished to reach out to the school or police.