KINGSTON-A Christian couple from the United States is accused of abandoning their adopted Haitian son at an American-owned boarding school in Jamaica that was shut down over allegations of child abuse.
According to US media reports, Michigan-based Mark and Spring Goldman sent their 17-year-old adopted son to Atlantis Leadership Academy, a school for troubled teens in St Elizabeth, after the boy allegedly displayed behavioral issues including watching porn and running away.
The school was shut down in early 2024 following allegations of abuse at the institution including alleged beatings and waterboarding. However, while other concerned parents came for their children, the Goldmans reportedly failed to collect their son who was left stranded in Jamaica for eight months.
“I appreciate them for bringing me to the US, but they abandoned me,” the boy, who had been adopted by the Goldmans at age 10, reportedly told the Detroit Free Press.
He was reportedly staying at Jamaican children homes until September 3 when authorities flew him back to the US.
The teen has since been taken and placed under the custody of the US Child Protective Services, to which his adoptive parents reportedly did not object.
He is set to now move in with a foster parent, a retired school teacher known only as ‘Teri’ who came forward to take him in on Wednesday.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” the woman reportedly told a courtroom before hugging the boy.
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