-teacher suspected in two cases
Child Protection Services is investigating the pregnancies of three minors, two of them twelve and an 11 year old who were rescued by welfare workers from Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and brought to the city recently.
Two of the girls have since given birth, one some weeks ago and the other yesterday. Hospital sources told Stabroek News that the baby was delivered naturally and both mother and infant are doing fine but are being constantly monitored by health officials.
Minister of Human Services Jennifer Webster yesterday afternoon told Stabroek News that the girls were brought out of the region to Georgetown after her ministry learnt of their condition. She said that investigations have so far revealed that two of them were impregnated by a teacher and the third case they are still investigating but have heard that she became pregnant while staying in a dorm facility in her region.
They were then brought to the city where they were kept at a State run children’s home as would be the case for all abused children. It is the objective of the ministry to reintegrate the girls back into a school system where they can each have access to a secondary education.
Webster added that her ministry and the police are working in collaboration to bring the perpetrators of the sexual abuse on the girls to justice.
Director of Child Protection Services, Ann Greene, when contacted said that her agency had been monitoring the girls from the time they were brought out of the region and will do so until they are back in school. They are currently working on the completion of file cases they put together for each and will soon give an update.
However, she stressed the difficulties faced with cases involving Guyana’s Indigenous population since “culture sometimes differs with the country’s laws and it gets very ticklish”.
Greene told Stabroek News that in many instances the girls want to return to the interior environment but her agency in some instances cannot approve because of the increased chances of it happening again.
