ST. VINCENT-INVESTIGATION – Police investigate case of US children ‘acting like animals’ found living on Grenadine islands

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KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, May 17, CMC – The police have launched an investigation into a case in which a Vincentian man and his American wife and children have been living in a tent on the Grenadine island of Bequia for five years.
A senior police official told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday, that police are trying to determine if the man, Otis Lockhart, held the other members of his family against their will.
The police source said the family was living in deplorable conditions on the Northern Grenadine island when police were notified of the situation on Monday.
The source said that initial reports are that in some cases the children were “acting like animals” and appeared to be malnourished.
A video, obtained by CMC shows the family disembarking a ferry in Kingstown.
They are escorted by at least one uniformed police officer and someone who what to be a social worker.
Lockhart was handcuffed and the other family members, including three children – a boy around 13 years old and two girls, believed to be 10 and 8 — were taken to the health centre in Bequia for medical attention before they were all transported to Kingstown.
Police are trying to determine if any member of the family was being held against their will.
The woman was born in the United States, her children are also said to be U.S. citizens, but it’s not known if they were born in the country.
The police source said that depending on the information provided by the family, abduction or other charges can be brought against either or both of the adults.

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