More than two months after Crime Chief Leslie James had indicated that charges were likely to be laid against some employees of the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) following a probe into sex and physical abuse allegations made by four former residents of the institution no one has been charged and placed before the courts.
The delay in instituting charges may frustrate the victims, sources have said, as they may assume no one believes them. The Sunday Stabroek was unable to get an update from James but last week he had indicated that the investigation was near completion; however, no further update has been given on the status of the investigation.
While the allegations were made months ago the authorities only became involved when the parents of the girls made a formal complaint at the Child Care & Protection Agency which in turn applied to the High Court for the victims to be removed from the institution. The order was granted and the girls were released into the care of the agency and they remain there while work is being done to build their self-esteem and give them an opportunity to pursue some formal studies.
More details have been revealed into the allegations levelled against three male employees of the NOC. This newspaper has been reliably informed that sex abuse allegations had been made against a young teenager who was hired by the institution to teach information technology and it is believed that he struck up relations with at least one of the girls who is under the age of sixteen. The teenager is not believed to be on staff presently and was only there for a short period of time. However, two males with years of service at the institution also have damming allegations made against them as one is accused of physical abuse