Three months after she reported the repeated rape of her 12-year-old daughter to La Grange Police Station, a mother is still awaiting justice and questioning whether the perpetrator would be held accountable for his actions.
Stabroek News had published a story in early February in which the mother indicated that she had reported the matter to the police since December 13, 2014 and that the perpetrator was initially arrested and released shortly after. The accused, said to be 17 years old, is no longer in the village.
After the report was carried in this newspaper, the mother was invited to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. There, she was told that the DPP would request the file and that she would be updated about the progress. The woman said it has been weeks since that meeting and she is still awaiting an update and she’s becoming frustrated.
“I don’t know what to do, I went to the police and then the DPP get involve but we still waiting for justice,” she told this newspaper recently.
The child has since been removed from the community and attends a different school and she continues to be counselled, her mother said. After the matter was reported the mother was also contacted by the Child Care & Protection Agency and she said she met with officials and it was ascertained that the child is safe and is getting the requisite help.
Things came to light when a neighbour informed the working single parent that she believed her child was being molested because of the young man’s frequent visits to the house when she was not at home. The 12-year-old was also seen kissing the young man.
“Right away I call she and I ask she and she tell me, ‘yes.’ And when I ask she what else happen, she tell me how the boy does sex she,” the mother had said. Her daughter also revealed that the young man would on occasion enter their home through the window when her siblings were out and would rape her. On other occasions he would rape her in the yard. The revelation, she said, “shook me to the core.” She also learnt to her horror that the suspect was planning to take friends the next time in order to “bank” (gang rape) her daughter.
Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA) local representative Tiffany Jackson, who is aware of the case and has been working with the family, had also told this newspaper that she was shocked at the line of questioning the police asked the child during the investigation.
“She was asked, ‘Like you like this boy?’” she said of the female investigating rank.
“That should not be a question to be asking a child under the age of 16 because we are talking about statutory rape,” Jackson had pointed out.
She had also said the investigating officer had promised to have police officers visit the community and conduct “spot checks” but this was yet to become a reality.
