Children’s Authority: Reports of sexual abuse sent to police

THE CHILDREN’s Authority says all reports of sexual abuse brought to its attention are reported to the police for investigation.

The assurance was given in response to questions from Newsday on a recent court ruling which dismissed the application of a Tobago-based children’s home for a licence to operate.

Last week, Justice Ricky Rahim dismissed the appeal of the Sylphill Home in Love in Tobago which was denied a licence to operate.

“The welfare of children in the view of the court is a very heavy consideration,” Rahim said.

The Sylphil Home in Love, in Lambeau, Tobago, lost its licence in 2022. In a statement back then, the Children’s Authority said it refused the home’s application for a licence and ordered it to cease its operations.

The authority, in its statement, added, “The move to cease operations at the Sylphil Home is consistent with the authority’s efforts to ensure the best interest and overall welfare of children in care.

The authority said it will continue to advocate for the care, protection and rehabilitation of all children as “we defend and support child rights and make child protection everybody’s business.”

After attempting to make a case to Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy, who holds the portfolio for gender and child affairs, it then approached the High Court for relief, naming the minister and the authority as defendants in its challenge.

In its statement, the authority said the action it took in June 2022, was in keeping with the law and was consistent with its efforts to ensure the best interest and overall welfare of children in care.

“As a result, the operations of the children’s home have ceased,” the authority said. It also said it continued to provide all the children removed from the facility “with the necessary

psycho-social support and intervention.”

The action against the Lambeau-based facility by the authority arose from allegations of sexual impropriety by one child to others at the home.

It was alleged that victims reported the incidents of sexual impropriety to the home’s manager who failed to report it and who, in turn, threatened violence against a child victim who raised the allegations. The authority informed the Sylphil Home in Love an investigation had been started and it was expected that the home would co-operate with the police.

On June 6, 2022, the authority informed Sylphil Home in Love that it was refusing its application for a licence.