Members of The Gleaner team which won the 2007 Inter-American Press Association award for News Coverage. From left are Glenroy Sinclair, assignment coordinator; Rudolph Brown, chief photographer; Daraine Luton, staff reporter, and Ricardo Makyn, staff photographer. - Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

The Gleaner has added another jewel to a distinguished collection of accolades, capturing the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) News Coverage Award in the 2007 Excellence in Journalism Awards.

The team of Daraine Luton, Keisha Hill, Glenroy Sinclair, Ricardo Makyn and Rudolph Brown copped the award for what the IAPA described as "its series of articles on a case involving the abuse and videotaping of a young girl by a group of teenagers under the eyes of a religious leader and the subsequent attempt to cover up the case and prevent it from being reported publicly".

The mentioned series caused public outcry and furore about a year ago, when The Gleaner broke the story of the teenage girl who was sexually abused by the group of teenage boys in a church van being driven by the former deacon of the Dayton Avenue Church of God in St. Andrew.

The boys were charged with indecent assault, while the former deacon, Donovan Jones, and the boys were charged with trafficking in persons. The case is still before the court.

Prompted dialogue

The matter caused much discussion from the public, the legislature and the Government. The stories, published daily over a three-week period, also prompted dialogue about child pornography legislation to deal with such incidents.

The IAPA isa press advocacy group aimed at defending press freedom in the western hemisphere. The yearly awards also feature other categories, such as the IAPA Grand Prize for Press Freedom, the Human Rights and Community Service Award, the Opinion Award and the In-depth Reporting Award, among others.

Keisha Hill, 2006 Northern Caribbean University intern, who was part of the IAPA winning news team on the Dayton Avenue church investigative series.