Montserrat has a child grooming problem.
In the last decade, dozens of teenage girls have become victims to older men who target them when they enter Montserrat Secondary School—the island’s lone high school.
To entrap their victims, these men give the girls cash allowances, smartphones, groceries and rides home. The victimization of young girls became so pervasive that authorities amended the island’s Road Traffic Act to restrict motorists from installing extremely dark tint film on the windows of their vehicles. Many car owners say the tint shielded them from the scorching Caribbean sun. Authorities said the tint made it easier for the men to conceal their illicit activities.

Not long ago, Montserrat was rocked by revelations that one of the island’s most powerful men had been targeting young girls. David Brandt, a prominent 81-year-old lawyer who served as chief minister from 1997 to 2001, was charged with sexually exploiting five girls between the ages of 13 and 15.
Brandt’s activities, spanning from October 2010 to June 2016, included “oral and vaginal sex” with the victims in his law office. He solicited explicit photos and videos from his victims and paid them to recruit others for him, according to court papers. His conviction and subsequent 15-year sentence in 2021 highlighted the severity of the grooming problem in Montserrat.
Between 2013 and 2023, Montserrat recorded 69 cases related to sexual offenses. A significant number of those cases involved unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Shirley Osborne, a leading women’s advocate on the island, said the grooming problem has been allowed to fester because many families do not want to cause strife within the community. She said predators exploit the poverty of their victims to get their way.
Osborne said that in the past, some families were more tolerant of the grooming problem because they might have received some economic benefits.
“Now, as people become more and more aware, and as families are recognizing there are other opportunities, other ways for them to rise… and they don’t need ‘Mr. Over There’ so much nowadays,” she said.
Trouble in Paradise
Montserrat became known around the world after the catastrophic 1997 Soufrière Hills volcanic eruption that obliterated more than half of the island and displaced two-thirds of its 12,000 people. Many of them fled the Eastern Caribbean island for the United Kingdom, where they have remained. Others have settled in the United States and Canada.
One of the last remaining British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, Montserrat is now a relatively peaceful and tight-knit community of 4,386 people. Most Montserratians are either related to people on the island or know their families.
The vast majority of Montserratians are descendants of enslaved people who were brought by the British to work on what became lucrative sugar, tobacco and cotton plantations. The natives called the island Alliougana, after the prickly bush that can be found everywhere. Columbus changed its name to Montserrat because the island’s steep mountains reminded him of the terrain in Catalan, Spain.
Montserrat became known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean after its English rulers brought some 1,900 Irish men, women and children in the 17th century to serve as indentured labourers, merchants, and plantation owners. Montserrat is the only country outside Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day (March 17) as a public holiday.

During the St Patrick’s Festival, people gather in Salem in the south of the island where they wear traditional Irish green and feast on goat water, the island’s thick brown stew that is eaten with bread.
The David Brandt proceedings, which lasted more than 6 years, exposed significant flaws in Montserrat’s judicial system. Brandt, a well-known criminal attorney, managed to prolong the case, taking some legal issues to the Privy Council in London. Typically, criminal cases go to trial first, then to appeal, but Director of Public Prosecution Oris Sullivan said Brandt was able to exploit the process, turning parts of it into a civil case that prolonged the proceedings.
The investigation into Brandt was conducted by a battery of investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA) in London who used phone records and text messages to build a case against Brandt. King’s Counsel Anesta Weekes, also in London, was the lead prosecutor for the Crown.
Tony Cook, Head of Child Sexual Abuse Operations at the NCA, said: “When [Brandt] was arrested he made it quite clear to us he thought he would escape prosecution. He did everything in his power to delay and disrupt the criminal justice process, including appealing many of the judicial rulings and attempting to get key evidence excluded.”
“His attempts were thwarted through a determination to seek justice for the victims and he will now serve a long sentence in prison where he no longer poses a risk to children,” Cook said.
During the proceedings Brandt insisted that he was innocent. In a written plea before his 2021 sentencing, Brandt apologized to his victims. “I deeply regret that I engaged in the activities in which I have been convicted and apologize to all the virtual complainants and undertake that in the future, I will not engage in those, similar acts or any criminal activity whatsoever,” he said.
Presiding Justice Stanley John was unmoved. He used Brandt’s conviction to warn sexual predators that their crimes will not be tolerated.
He said Brandt “is one of the most senior lawyers on this island…his actions warrant severe punishment and a strong message to the society.” John said he hoped that “the sentences imposed in this case are a strong message to the society in general and specifically to those persons in whom the public places trust that no one is above the law.”

Brandt, who is serving his sentence at His Majesty’s Prison in Brades, is currently appealing his conviction and sentence. He argues that the judge made an error by ruling that the search of his phone was legal and consequently, evidence obtained from the phone should not have been used in court.
Brandt also claims that the judge did not properly guide the jury regarding the interview transcripts and wrongly allowed the jury to take these transcripts with them during deliberations. He contends that there was no valid evidence presented to prove the ages of the alleged victims at the time of the supposed crimes, which he says means that a crucial element of the sexual exploitation charges was not sufficiently established.
The Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network attempted to reach Brandt for his account. Through prison authorities, he denied a request for an interview.
The community’s response to Brandt’s conviction was overwhelmingly positive, with many residents expressing their satisfaction on social media. “Justice is served,” commented one user, while another added, “One down, and lots more to go!” Residents from the wider Caribbean community also shared their opinions, with one Antiguan user commenting “…these kind of results are needed around here” while another user said, “Can’t wait for the day I see this happens in St. Vincent.”
A New Dawn for Justice?
Since 2010, Montserrat has implemented reforms to make it easier for victims of sexual assault to get justice. One change in the law allows for some victims to testify in court, without the public being present. They also have the option of providing their account in a video recording.
Additionally, a safeguarding unit now handles all sexual offenses, ensuring confidentiality and expertise in sensitive cases. Victims no longer need to report crimes at police stations where information could be leaked; instead, trained professionals manage reports. Anonymous tip lines are also now available.
Sullivan has emphasized a strict zero-tolerance policy towards sexual offences and domestic violence. He said Montserrat should be a place where every child can grow up free from exploitation and abuse. He urged residents to move quickly to report any suspicious activities involving sexual violence.
Sullivan said there was a need across the Caribbean for lawmakers to effectively combat sexual offenses. He said many regional laws date back to colonial rule in the early 1900s and need modernization to handle contemporary issues such as electronic evidence. Montserrat’s legal framework now includes no statute of limitations for severe offenses including sexual exploitation and rape. Victims can seek justice regardless of when the crime occurred.