JAMAICA’S Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has claimed that in 2018 it became aware of the suspension of the education certificate of American educator Carl “Uncle Carl” Robanske, the man who led the organisation Embracing Orphans which was funding The Father’s House, a transitional facility for wards of the State in St James.

The certificate had been suspended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington after it investigated allegations against Robanske who was accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a middle school student.

The CPFSA continued the relationship with Robanske until Nationwide News Network reported the story in March 2021, based on what the Office of the Children’s Advocate reported was a claim by the CPFSA Chief Executive Officer Rosalee Gage-Grey that “he did not have a criminal record”.

But checks by the Jamaica Observer showed the available information from the superintendent of public instruction that formed the basis of the suspension of Robanske’s education certificate. Here are excerpts of what the CPFSA would have found before it decided to continue to allow him access to some of Jamaica’s most vulnerable children:

Misconduct with student

1) About May 2014, on more than one occasion, Mr Robanske instant messaged A L, a female middle school student, after school hours and on weekends. The messages included some conversations with sexual innuendo.

b) About May 2014, Mr Robanske instant messaged A L a conversation about tattoos, and included a frontal picture of an adult male with his groin area covered in a Pinocchio tattoo.

c) On or about May 14, 2014, Mr Robanske engaged A L in a game called “this or that”. He then mentioned sneakers or thong and then said, “I just read what I typed, I meant thong like sandals not the other one and how about u singing or you licking and biting me………….u licking and biting me”.

d). On or about May 14, 2014, when A L asked Mr Robanske if he was really getting a tattoo, he responded, “Ya, you want to see the back one or the dirty one.”

2) On March 24, 2015, Mr Robanske participated in an interview with an Office of Professional Practices (OPP) investigator in which he admitted he had initiated the instant messaging conversations with A L after he saw her on Facebook.

3) Mr Robanske agreed to be evaluated by a psychologist to determine if he was safe to have unsupervised access to children. On August 7, 2015, Mr Robanske was evaluated by Philip G Barnard, PhD, DABPS. As a result of the testing/evaluation, Dr Barnard determined:

a) “He appears to have little awareness of the inappropriateness of his behaviour.”

b) “Mr Robanske lacks insight into any of the unconscious or conscious motivations for his inappropriate behaviour. He claims to understand that it was inappropriate, stating that he would not engage in that type of behaviour in the future.”

c) Dr Barnard stated, “If a person lacks insight in understanding both their unconscious and conscious motives then there is an increased probability of that type of behaviour reoccurring.”

4) There is clear and convincing evidence that Mr Robanske has a behavioural problem that endangers the educational welfare or personal safety of students, teachers, or other colleagues within the educational setting.

Reinstatement will require:

1) successful completion of a psychological evaluation which validates Mr Robanske’s ability to have unsupervised access to students in a school environment by an evaluator mutually agreed upon by the OPP and Mr Robanske;

2) that Mr Robanske provide written consent for OPP to release documents to the provider for purposes of completing the evaluation;

3) that Mr Robanske follows and completes any and all treatment recommended in the evaluation;

4) that Mr Robanske will provide [the] OPP with evidence of his/her successful completion of or continued compliance in his/her treatment programme; and

5) if requested, Mr Robanske will sign consent forms authorising OPP to have access to all records pertaining to his/her treatment and to discuss any and all treatment undertaken with the providers administering treatment. The cost of conformance to all reinstatement requirements will be the responsibility of Mr Robanske.

The Jamaica Observer is awaiting word from the US on whether Robanske has applied for reinstatement.