Former Dayton resident under investigation in Jamaica

JAMAICA–Jamaican authorities are investigating allegations of improprieties in connection with a former Dayton resident, the faith-based orphanage he established to serve wards of the state here in 2014 and an official in charge of the government agency responsible for overseeing Embracing Orphans' The Father's House, the transitional facility established with the purpose of protecting vulnerable female wards of the state.

Jamaica's Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA) issued an extensive and illuminating 93-page report December 23, 2022, on its investigations into the relationship between the Child Protection & Family Services Agency (CPFSA), the U.S. nonprofit Embracing Orphans and its founder Carl Robanske.

Robanske, 43, of College Place, Wash., is alleged to have made "sexually inappropriate overtures" to three female residents of the orphanage, The Father's House, the report indicates. He established Embracing Orphans to, among other Christian mission-oriented activities, operate a transitional facility for endangered and potentially exploited girls.

Attempts to contact Robanske for comment were unsuccessful as the last known phone number has been disconnected.

Three individual residents, aged 15, 16 and "a minor," when they began living at The Father's House, allege eight documented instances of sexually oriented incidents including graphic videos, suggestive instant messaging (IM) messages, inappropriate touching, a "peeping tom" incident and attempted intercourse. In one case, IM screen images were archived by a resident's boyfriend and are pictured in the report.

It is unknown if Jamaican authorities plan to charge Robanske.

One of the report's conclusions was that Robanske's previous behavior was "materially relevant."

The report also investigated CPFSA Chief Executive Officer Rosalee Gage-Grey, and concludes with four recommendations that assert that the agency, under Gage-Grey's leadership, "either does not have the capacity or the will to effectively manage sensitive matters in spite of the high level of responsibility...to some of Jamaica's most vulnerable citizens"; that risk assessment tools and procedures need to be revisited, assessed and aligned with best practices; "that material inconsistencies and discrepancies that have been exposed...are of concern and special attention needs to be paid to this disposition in light of the reliance that one should be able to confidently place on an officer holder at that level"; and, "due to the CEO's gross breach of the duty of care owed to wards of the State and former wards who are housed in facilities run by the CPFSA that is a finding of this investigation, this matter is hereby referred to the Honourable Fayval Williams, Minister of Education & Youth as the person competent to take such disciplinary or other proceedings as may be appropriate against the CEO of the CPFSA."

Gage-Grey was the acting CEO of the CDA (Child Development Agency), in January, 2014, when The Father's House officially became operational. "From then until now, her tenure has been unbroken and as such she has had full stewardship over, and ultimate responsibility for, the agency's collaboration with Embracing Orphans," the report reads on page 22.

The Father's House was officially opened on January 3, 2014, for the purpose of fostering "female wards of the state, 16 to 18 years old, who are preparing to exit state care, now have a transition facility that they can call home, Montego Bay, St. James," according to an excerpt from a Jamaica Information Service news report.

Records at The Father's House show Robanske visited the facility 22 times in 2018 and 2019, after allegations from Washington state were known to the CPFSA.

Robanske allegedly threw an "Appreciation Party" in March, 2018, a few weeks after CPFSA's February, 2018, discovery of Robanske's incidents that resulted in his teaching certificate suspension.

In December, 2016, Robanske's Washington State Education Certificate was suspended for two years after he admitted having had sexually inappropriate exchanges with a minor, the report reads. "On or 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." The report includes some of the alleged instant message content which occurred in that time frame. On June 2, 2014, Robanske was advised of allegations brought to the administration's attention and placed on administrative leave with pay.

Subsequent evaluation by Philip G. Barnard, Ph.D., DABPS, indicated "He appears to have little awareness of the inappropriateness of his behavior." Barnard's conclusion, according to the report, was that Robanske presented a risk to students.

"The heightened care that must be taken when treating with vulnerable populations such as children and former wards of the state, require that persons with questionable antecedents be presumed to pose a risk of harm to them," Dr. Barnard indicates in the report.

Robanske and Embracing Orphans had been involved with the CPFSA as early as 2009, about a year after Robanske arrived in Jamaica on a "divinely"-guided mission. In mid-2009, Robanske and the Child Development Agency (CDA, later renamed CPFSA), initiated and continued relationships, culminating with the late-2013 establishment of The Father's House, when it began accepting wards of the state, through the CPFSA, girls selected as they were ready to transition out of state care.

The Father's House was officially opened on January 3, 2014, and six months later, Robanske was advised of the allegations of sexual improprieties against him and he was placed on administrative leave. Shortly after, Robanske resigned. According to the CPFSA report, Robanske was investigated by Washington education authorities in March, 2015, and evaluated by Barnard in August, 2015. In December, 2016, Robanske was found culpable of professional misconduct and to have a high probability of repeating the sexually inappropriate behavior. His certificate was suspended for two years.

The CPFSA learned about the suspension in February, 2018, yet, between 2016 and March, 2021, "the relationship between the CPFSA and Robanske/Embracing Orphans continued apace and uninterrupted," the report states.

In March, 2021, national attention in Jamaica brought to the forefront the existence of the partnership between the CPFSA and Embracing Orphans, and in subsequent months and years, the relationship remains, according to the Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA) findings.

The OCA questioned Gage-Grey, who stated that Robanske was "placed on a two year suspension and not a ban," she is quoted as saying in the report.

Gage-Grey was interviewed on the Nationwide News Network on March 3, 2021, where she defended the continuing relationship in spite of the CPFSA's knowledge of Robanske's history, "on the basis that it was not a criminal conviction."

Questioning the adequacy of the CPFSA's response, the report states "This position of the CEO demonstrates a grave lack of understanding at best or at worst, an act of wilful [sic] blindness to the scope of her administrative and moral responsibilities. It is extremely troubling that someone who is entrusted with the care of arguably one of the most vulnerable cohorts within Jamaican society, could so glibly defend a questionable association based on semantics which so starkly call into question her own integrity and her loyalty to the vested interest that she ought to have in the lives of wards and former wards of the state."

The report asserts that Gage-Grey's continued public association with Robanske "has cast a shadow upon the CPFSA's image."

Rather than err on the side of caution, the report indicated, Gage-Grey "ignored this precautionary approach by treating Robanske's antecedents as being immaterial or in the words of the CEO as being deemed 'low risk' for The Father's House."

Robanske's ministerial efforts were the subject of a feature story in this newspaper on June 1, 2016.