The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

TWO social media personalities and one man were sentenced to three months in prison in two separate incidents after they pleaded guilty to child cruelty in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

In the first incident, video entertainer Jonathan Russell, 38, also known as “Daddi Whites”, and Lionel Hart Sr, 55, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after they were accused of giving Hart Sr’s two-year-old son an alcoholic beverage on June 13.

The pair were arrested last week after a video went viral on social media showing Russell giving a young boy a sip of what appeared to be a Bud Light beer while he was in his father’s arms. In the video, Russell can be seen holding the bottle to the young boy’s mouth while he takes a sip.

When the child recoils, Russell asks him if he wants more before handing the bottle to the child again. He then tells the boy that the rest of the beer is his and begins singing, “I ain’t worried about no curfew, about to get dead drunk, dead loose, just road.” The video sparked public outrage which ultimately led to the arrest of the defendants.

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said when the men were interviewed by police, Russell told officers that the incident was a misunderstanding because he was recording a film and had actually put soda inside the beer bottle. Sgt McKenzie said Hart Sr also admitted to holding his child while Russell gave him the alleged alcoholic beverage which he then allowed the child to drink. Both men were subsequently charged.

During the hearing, Russell said he was an entertainer and was shooting a commercial for Knowles’ Liquor Store. He said that he had put soda in the beer bottle at the time, and added that he only recorded the incident because he made “crass or edgy videos” that made his clients want to work with him. Russell said after the video got backlash online, he deleted it. He said someone else re-uploaded the video and it kept circulating. Admitting that it was the worst video he had ever recorded, Russell also said he felt sorry for the boy and his father. Hart Sr told the magistrate that he was wrong to let a man give his son a beer bottle. He also claimed that he did not know what the bottle contained and said he didn’t even see the video until he was arrested and thought Russell was only taking a photo that day. Hart Sr also asked Magistrate Forbes not to impose a custodial sentence since he was his son’s primary caregiver.

In response, Magistrate Forbes said he was struggling to understand how a father could allow a stranger to give his child what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage. He also reminded both men of the two year maximum penalty for the offence they committed and sentenced them to three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old woman was charged with one count of cruelty to children after she admitted to beating her boyfriend’s son with a belt earlier this month. When being escorted into the court building by officers, Alesha McNeil, also known as “Car Wash” on social media, took off her face mask and claimed that she could not breathe. At one point, she also stopped at the doors of the building gasping and crying. Before the arraignment, she was taken to a medical facility to be evaluated.

McNeil later appeared before Magistrate Forbes after she was accused of assaulting a seven-year-old boy while he was in her care and custody on June 4. The social media personality pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months at BDCS. McNeil was arrested after a video showing red bruise marks on a child’s back made the rounds on social media. 

The court was told that the child’s mother told police that she went to her ex-boyfriend’s house to collect their child around 1pm that day. It was at that time, that the mother discovered the seven-year-old had injuries on his back and stomach. When she asked the child how he got them, he told her McNeil caused the injuries. As a result of this information, an investigation was launched which led to McNeil’s arrest. In an interview with police, she told them she had beaten the child with a belt. However Prosecutor McKenzie said McNeil told the officers her child’s daddy caused his injuries.

During the hearing yesterday, McNeil told the magistrate that she was only trying to teach the child how to read and write and claimed the child’s father gave her permission to beat him if he did not comply with the lessons. McNeil said she had the letters of the alphabet and vowels on the wall, but when she tried to teach the child, he told her he “wasn’t on that run.” She insisted that she never meant to harm the boy and also said that her mother used similar disciplinary measures on her when she did not want to do her school work.

In response, Magistrate Forbes told McNeil she should have allowed the child’s father to discipline him since she was not his parent or guardian. He also noted that she did not consult the child’s mother who was his primary caregiver. Magistrate Forbes added that McNeil hit the child “hard enough to leave marks,” which suggested she was aware of the severity of the beating. Noting that the father had no authority to give McNeil permission to beat the boy, he stated that the boy’s father should have been charged as well, since he was “equally responsible” for the incident.

As a result, Magistrate Forbes sentenced McNeil to three months in prison. Still, he said he would allow the defendant to receive medical attention before she was remanded into custody. Magistrate Forbes said the defendant’s conviction would remind people that children were “paramount” and that adults had a responsibility to keep them safe.