– in alleged child soliciting
Telephone records log a call from the number allegedly used by an underage boy to contact the Office of the President’s Press and Publicity Office, whose head Kwame McCoy has denied allegations that he is the speaker on a recorded call engaging in an illicit conversation with the male minor.
The call log was released yesterday while police last evening confirmed that boy went into police earlier in the day, although details of the interaction were not released.
The call, made on September 9, 2009 was made to telephone number 223-7502 and lasted for 20 minutes, around the same time as the audio recording. A birth certificate, said to be that of the teenage male caller, lists his date of birth as August 18, 1994; making him 15 years old.
Stabroek News attempted to contact the mother of the boy but reports are that she has gone into hiding along with her son.
The recording was broadcast online at Benschop Radio, hosted by guyanaobservernews.com, on Friday evening. It is unclear why the recording was not handed over to police for investigation prior to the broadcast.
McCoy, who is also a member of the Rights of the Child Commission and a PPP/C Region Four RDC Councillor, on Saturday denied that it is his voice on the recording, deeming it a clear fabrication aimed at “smearing my character and family name.” He said since he became a member of the commission he was reliably informed that there was a “certain group of persons out to get me at all cost[s] and I was warned to be careful.” “As recent as today [Saturday], someone attempted to impersonate me by contacting the Kaieteur News pretending to be Kwame McCoy and stated that I had tendered my resignation from the Office of the President as well as the Rights Commission based on the release of this recording,” the statement said. McCoy said that he had been in contact with his attorneys and would take legal action against “anyone or media house that seek[s] to publish the recording and or any story that is being derived from same.”
On the recording, the two speakers discuss plans for a sexual liaison.
Contacted yesterday, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand told Stabroek News that McCoy has denied that it is his voice on the tape and that she herself has not heard the alleged conversation. “Everything I have heard on the issue is from the press,” the minister said adding that she could hardly pronounce on the authenticity of the taped conversation and as a result could not pronounce on its content. Manickchand’s ministry nominated McCoy to sit on the Rights of the Child Commission.
Questioned on the issue of child abuse, the minister, who made it clear that her response was not connected to the alleged conversation, noted that her ministry condemns any form of child abuse and all such abuses should be treated condignly. She noted that government has passed several laws that address the rights of children and was working to ensure that these are enforced so that all children in Guyana could have a better quality of life.
McCoy was appointed to the commission despite a major dispute between the government and opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) on his inclusion.
There was a contentious debate in parliament on the issue during which opposition MPs tried unsuccessfully to persuade the government to withdraw McCoy’s nomination, citing concerns about his political partisanship and what they claimed was the contentious nature of his character. But the governing PPP/C speakers defended the nomination while emphasising the need to move ahead with the establishment of the long-delayed commission.
