13 AND PREGNANT

A 33-YEAR-OLD man from the West was detained by Child Protection police after a 13-year-old schoolgirl who is six months pregnant confessed to being in a relationship with him for a year. The girl told police over the weekend she began having a sexual relationship with the man when she was 12.

On Sunday, the teen’s mother, who noticed her daughter was putting on weight and vomiting all the time, took her for a check-up and discovered to her horror that the child was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. The woman took her daughter to the Maraval police station on Sunday and reported the matter to Insp Huggins, Cpl Christopher Arun and WPC Castle.

At the station the teen identified the husband of a female relative as being responsible for her pregnancy. She admitted to having sexual relations with the man for more than a year and said he had threatened her into silence.

Hours later, police detained the suspect, who remained in custody at a police station in Western Division yesterday. The teenager was expected to be examined by a district medical officer and a statement taken from her today. Police said the suspect faces several charges of sexual penetration, among other offences.

In an unrelated incident, a 55-year-old Barataria woman also went to the Child Protection Unit at the Maraval police station on Tuesday to report that her 16-year-old daughter was five months pregnant.

She told police her daughter confessed to being sexually active with a 19-year-old Diego Martin man. She said her daughter’s first sexual encounter was at the boardwalk in Chaguaramas earlier this year. WPC Sergeant is continuing enquiries.

SET UP SEX CRIME UNIT

Meanwhile, the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) yesterday reinforced its call for Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to set up a Sex Crimes Unit in the wake of an increase in sex crimes being committed against minors.

President of the network Sandrine Rattan believes the unit is important because of the reported cases of minors being assaulted by sexual predators. She feels the Child Protection Unit may be overwhelmed by an increase in these crimes and a sex crimes unit would provide additional support.

In a release, Rattan said, “Just over a month ago, the IWRN issued a press release expressing concern at the alarming rate of sexual offences against minors and in particular sexual penetration. At the time of the release, the statistics stood at over 20 victims.

"Since then that figure continues to increase rapidly with the latest incidents involving a 35-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted his 12-year-old daughter on multiple occasions between last year and this year and the second involving a 30-year-old man who impregnated his 17-year-old neighbour.”

Newsday reported online yesterday on two teenagers, 13 and 16, who were impregnated by their attackers. Rattan expressed concern that of all her network’s calls and recommendations for urgently treating with this issue, only one was answered – “and that is the soon-to-be established Sexual Offences Court.”

She reminded that the network had also in the past recommended that a sex crimes unit should be set up in all police divisions to support the Child Protection Unit. She said the CoP has not yet responded to this recommendation.

REVIEW PENALTIES

Rattan is also calling on the Attorney General to urgently review the fines and penalties currently laid out in the Sexual Offences Act with a view to increasing them, particularly those relating to rape and sexual assault on minors.

She reiterated: “Both recommendations have not been discussed and/or considered at the time of issuing this release. Unless and until all these recommendations are urgently considered, the country would continue to witness sexual destruction of our youngsters by predators who think that they have a distinct right to sexually molest their daughters, sons, nieces, aunts and neighbours in the most vicious manner and continue with business as usual..

She concluded that the IWRN is warning that issues such as rape and other types of sexual offences must be treated with as harshly as other criminal offences.