GREGORY JONES will be the first to admit that he does not care for his three children as adequately as he would like.
But it is not because he does not want to, he says.
Frustrated at the number of people who have been telling him he needs to support his six-month-old triplets, Jones, 26, presented himself at the NATION late Monday evening.
The father of Sandy Samuels’ triplets, whose sad faces tugged at the hearts of readers in the SUNDAY SUN, came with two supermarket bags. One had a large tin of cereal he had purchased with the last bit of money he had.
He has been out of work for almost six months.
“The reason that I am not working is because she [Samuels] stabbed me in my hand in November last year, in my back and on my upper arm, causing me not to be able to work,” Jones said.He said he had been on sick leave ever since from his job at a security firm and is still under the care of an occupational therapist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Samuels was reportedly charged concerning the incident, but Jones said he told officers at the District “A” Police Station he was not interested in pursuing the case.“She got three children for me; I didn’t see any way I would be satisfied with she being convicted. If she went to prison it wouldn’t do me any good,” he said.
Claiming that he and Samuels were not in a love relationship, he said she got pregnant while he was temporarily separated from the woman he is now married to. He claimed he and Samuels made the decision to “just deal with the children”.
Jones’ mother Pamelia Brathwaite said she acts as a go-between for Samuels and her son. She said that whenever she can she provides milk, cereal, clothing, food, pampers, wipes and other things for the infants.
“I does tek dem children every other weekend. Greg does tek dem too. If I give Sandy, it’s on Greg behalf, because he is my child.
If dem children have a need I would give dem,” Brathwaite said.
Jones said that although not in a relationship with Samuels, on finding out she was pregnant he moved out of a house on his mother’s property so that she could live there. This was corroborated by his mother.
He is now months behind in rent for another house.
Brathwaite expressed concern about calls from people who were critical of her son.
“Sandy should have said exactly what the situation is,” Brathwaite argued.
It was not her aim to stop people from helping Samuels and the children, she said.
Jones said he got 100 a little while ago to put towards his rent and he bought milk, wipes and paid for the children’s visit to his house. He even recalled getting salary advances to ensure the children’s needs were met.
Jones and his mother’s fears that his coming forward would stop Samuels from getting assistance have not been realized so far. Offers of furnishings, appliances and housewares have been pouring in.President of the National Organization of Women, Marilyn Rice-Bowen, said that regardless of what led to Samuels’ dire situation, the organization would be offering her assistance.
“We are helping the children. They need to be housed. When we speak to her [Samuels] and she needs other assistance, we will refer her for professional care. We will not leave her in the middle of the road,” Rice-Bowen assured.
