Colin Chin-Aleong v Gia Leid and Tarini Bhagwansingh

• Jurisdiction: Trinidad & Tobago
• Court: High Court (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Judge: Rahim, J.
• Judgment Date: 20 May 2025
• Neutral Citation: TT 2025 HC 145
• Year: 2025
• Docket Number: Suit No.: CV2022-00320

Colin Chin-Aleong

and

Gia Leid and Tarini Bhagwansingh

Rahim, J.

Suit No.: CV2022-00320

High Court

Appearances:

Claimant: R. Morton-Gittens, instructed by A. Seebalack.

Second Defendant: J. Jagroo, instructed by A. Ramkissoon.

Rahim, J.

1 This is a claim for defamation by a teacher and businessman (Colin) who operated a popular tutoring institution at Westmoorings known as Colin's Lessons or Extra Lessons or Xtra Lessons. The First Defendant (Gia) is a medical doctor who attended lessons between the years 2003 to 2012, and the Second Defendant (Tarini) is also a medical doctor. Gia owns an Instagram account, and Tarini owns both Instagram and Facebook accounts. The complaint is that over the period October 4th to 7th, 2021, they both published material consisting of words and photographs which imputed that Colin was a paedophile, was guilty of sexual harassment, sexual impropriety and sexual grooming of children.

2 The First Defendant has played no part in these proceedings, and there is an application for judgment in default filed March 6, 2022, which has been deferred pending the decision in relation to the other defendant after trial. There has been good and proper service on the First Defendant. The defence of the Second Defendant is threefold. He claims justification, fair comment and public interest privilege.

3 There are facts which are either not in dispute or that have been admitted, so that the court does not have to make a finding thereon. It is not in dispute by Tarini that he posted the material complained of to his social media pages, which had in excess of 5,000 followers, so that the act of publication has been established. It was also accepted under cross-examination that the material referred to Colin by name, reference and photograph. Tarini also admitted that Gia sent the defamatory material to him and encouraged him to post the material on his own social media pages. He admitted that there were written messages exchanged between the Defendants on WhatsApp, and that he had the knowledge and ability to “export the entire chat”.

CASE FOR THE CLAIMANT

COLIN CHIN-ALEONG

4 Colin gave evidence on his case and called one other witness. He has carried on his lessons business for over 30 years, providing tuition for SEA, CSEC, CAPE and STATS for about 250 students per year with high rates of academic success. Other tutors are also engaged by him to conduct classes in his business. As a consequence, he has forged and maintained many professional, social and friendly relationships throughout Trinidad and Tobago. He set out his employment history as an engineer and the offices held by him over the years. He also set out his notable academic achievements.

5 During the period that Gia attended lessons at his business, she fell into disciplinary issues on several occasions and caused disturbances, inclusive of general disorderly conduct. On one occasion, he lost his BlackBerry phone and subsequently found out that it was being used by an account owned by Gia. In 2013, Gia verbally accosted him outside of lessons. He made reports to the police on all occasions. There has been a social media relationship between the two defendants which he has observed online.

6 From October 4, 2021 to October 7, 2021, Gia posted to her Instagram account a series of posts about Colin as follows:

TRIGGER WARNING

PEDOPHILLIA

SEXUAL ASSAULT

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Who is Colin-Chin Aleong?

• * A 55-year-old Trinidadian Male who provided extra lessons at a Westmoorings home for 17 years since 1995

• * Children from primary school through secondary school attended ages 8–17

• * Many accounts have alleged to witness or experience grooming both boys and girls from a young age. Allegedly telling boys to get girls when they were “ripe”, which, according to him, was right after turning 15. Some have come forward describing that he would grope, make sexual comments and speak about his sex life with children.

• * He has scarred many girls, and many boys were believed to be enabled to commit sexual assault during that period and later on

• * Despite multiple allegations and complaints, he has yet to be held accountable for anything due to the fear he instilled as well as the cover he presented that all of this was done as a joke, thus making people feel isolated to speak up.

He works at Waterloo Capital Advisors still running Xtra Lessons at https://www.xtralessons.com/contact/”

“Real rapey vybz right through

Alllll the time I used to think he just did it for the girls to be ok with the groping and feel sorry for him which just fucked with my head That Colin guy told these 17-year-old to go upstairs and “get in there” with girls “while they ripe” and I've heard a few cases where these enabled assholes took advantage of that vote of confidence and sexually assaulted…

Oblivious at that age to recognise it as sexual harassment and predatory behaviour, Man talked about his ex-wife all the time to CHILDREN. How bad his sex life was, how she was crazy, how he wanted to impregnate some girls to their faces as a “joke”. How he was dating a new girl but her boobs weren't nice. I could go on forever.”

7 The posts were accompanied by photos of Colin and his name. Within a short time, the posts were reposted and screenshots were shared on WhatsApp.

8 Gia also published a video on Instagram in which she stated:

No. I was about to say hi guys! No. Um. But I just want to hop on here to say I am really really proud of you guys for sharing and asking questions and for showing support. Good on ya.

Some of you may have realised the posts got deleted. And that is because someone claims that that man has a lot of money and power: Well, I have no money, and no power, but I'm still going to repost it.

Alright guys, did you know Colin actually has no money and no power?

Who said that? Oh my gosh, what's going on.”

9 Tarini published the said material on October 4, 2021 on his Instagram and Facebook accounts and also made the statement “protect our kids” and also ‘tagged’ a popular Instagram account bearing the name “@sassofficialtt” which is widely known as a sexual assault survivor group which at the material time had 3,254 followers. He testified that the tagging of the said “@sassofficialtt” account would have meant that persons visiting that account and/or followers of that account would have seen the material about him, as it was essentially thereby made a part of the “@sassofficialtt” page. This further broadened the audience of people who saw the material and were exposed to the allegations.

10 Shortly after the posts on or about October 4, 2021, a new Instagram profile by the name of ‘To Catch a Predator Trinidad’ which bore the username “@tocatchapredatortrinidad” emerged, and reposted the material. Tarini was one of the first of eight persons to follow the said Instagram profile.

11 The said newly created ‘To Catch a Predator Trinidad’ profile displayed what he referred to as a bizarrely altered photograph of his face as its profile picture. Under the cloak of anonymity, the said profile continued to repost the exact same material published by Gia and Tarini to their various social media accounts. The said account and its reposting attracted hundreds of likes, and quickly grew in followers, and attracted a plethora of comments from the public.

12 He testified that the allegations are completely untrue and that his life and livelihood have been irreparably affected in several ways.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

13 He was asked about the number of people who would have liked the posts as shown on the posts. These numbers varied and, in some cases, could not be ascertained. He admitted that in some cases, where he testified as to how many people saw the posts, this was an assumption on his part based on the total number of followers to the account. He assumed they would all see it. He also spoke of persons who called him to speak about the allegations. He admitted that in his pre-action letter, he asked for the posts to be removed, and that a full retraction and apology be provided. He also asked for a proposal on damages. He accepted that the posts were removed and that an apology was offered. It was Colin's position that the apology offered was not good enough. Ultimately, the parties failed to agree on damages.

14 It was put to him that the allegations contained in the posts were based on true confessions of third parties, and he disagreed.

15 A large part of the cross-examination related to the issue of damages, so that same will be set out later on as and where appropriate.

ALEJANDRO GUZMAN

16 Guzman holds a Bachelor's in Zoology from UWI and has known Colin for about 27 years. He was first engaged by Colin as a tutor of science and now holds the posts of Senior Tutor and Operations Manager. He set out the operations of the business, having a structured curriculum spanning 15 classes daily. There has been an average of 12 tutors over the years, with approximately 250 students per year. The well-being of the students is paramount.

17 He gave evidence of the stellar reputation of Colin and his integrity, exemplary moral compass and steadfast values. He spoke of Colin's interactions with students in a professional and nurturing manner and his going the extra mile to ensure success while prioritising the individual needs of the student. He also testified about Colin's ethical conduct and his genuine concern for the well-being of others.

18 Beginning on October 4, 2021, he came across the material posted on social media, which is set out earlier in this judgment. The posts swiftly gained traction, becoming a subject of widespread discussion among students and the community at large. The speed at which it spread was truly astonishing and deeply concerning. He promptly alerted Colin to the posts and was forced to deal with phone call after phone call from concerned parents, some...