Destiny Group CEO found guilty
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia- The long-awaited ruling in a child linking the Destiny Group in Monrovia has finally been handed down, with the Criminal Court B establishing that two Liberian children were illegally trafficked to the United States.
Criminal Court B Judge, Ceaineh Clinton Johnson acquitted two men of the crime of trafficking in persons, but found Marian Morgan Luyken guilty.
Madam Luyken is President of WACSN and Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Group, which runs a big entertainment center in Monrovia.
The two men, who were acquitted are Edwin Walker and Ernest Urey.
In the ruling, the Court said that both men didn’t play major role in the trafficking of the two children to the US.
The father of the two children trafficked children, Mr. Edwin Walker.
The court says it is reasonable to believe that West African Children Support Network (WACSN) has the information needed by this court in view of the letter written by Co-defendant Edwin Walker. This was not placed into evidence or acknowledged, as both sides of this case and may have been an instrument of power played between the parties hereto. But the court, being a court of Justice, will have no part to play such power play wherein two innocent Children may be in a position of vulnerability or exploitation.
Temple of Justice
Criminal Court B also said in its mind, no evidence is available from the two children because their whereabouts are unknown to the prosecution and the state cannot provide any evidence about their conditions or their presence in exploitative premises because WACSN, thru its President, Marian Morgan Luyken does not want to provide the needed evidence.
During her testimony in court, she admitted taking the two children–Bill Walker and Quita Johnson– and giving them to an American family for which she was guilty
Judge Clinton-Johns added that the court cannot accept from WACSN that because the American Embassy evoked the diplomatic immunity and because the Probate Court Judge said he gave the adoption file to the late Chief Justice Johnnie Lewis, who may mislaid same that there are no other means available to find information for the state to obtain any evidence about their conditions or their presence in any exploitative conditions; for this concealment and withholding of information on two Liberian children, this court says it sees deception, which can be presumed under law that these children are or maybe be in conditions that qualify for trafficking in persons as they cannot be made to have disappeared with no trace.
Record shows hundreds of others being trafficked
Record in the possession of the Defense for children showed that 550 Children were taken away from Liberia to the United States of America illegally.
Among the 550, 32 children came from Todee suburb of Montserrado, while the rest came from Gbarpolu, Bong, Cape Mount and Grand Bassa Counties.
In 2006, Edwin Walker took his two children from their mothers illegally and brought them to Marian Morgan owner of Destiny whose normal business is to buy children and take them to the United States for reasons unknown.
Three Defendants named above on trial at Criminal Court B for illegally trafficking Bill Walker and Quita Johnson whose names were changed by defendant Marian Morgan to Tete Walker.
The under age children were illegally taken from their separate mothers under pretense bringing them to Monrovia for better living conditions but only to the surprised of their mothers, their children was being taken to the United States without their consent.
Bill and Quita were taken away from their mothers 2006 August 6 and since then their mothers have never heard from them through communication neither to imagine their sizes and body.
It was Bill and Quita mothers who their case to court while the rest of the parents whose children were been trafficked by those Defendants have staging series of protest on the court ground and they have also threatened court action but they are disappointed over the manner in which Judge Johnson was sitting over ruling without handing down verdict.
During the trial proceedings, Probit Court was Subpoenaed, followed by Health Ministry and National Documents for Record and Achieve to show records whether those were adapted but all of those were Subpoenaed by Judge Johnson testified that there were no records of such.
At the trial proceedings, state lawyers produced nine witnesses while, the defense produced five.
This trafficking case commenced in 2018 in Criminal Court A but it was later transferred to Criminal Court B since then the ruling has been held by Criminal Court B Judge for reasons known to herself.
Final argument of this case was being heard in July of this year where other Children who were being trafficked by convicted Marian Morgan Luyken again attacked in court for their children.