(Trinidad Guardian) Police have detained the babysitters of two male children under the ages of five for alleged abuse.
According to the police report, on July 14, a doctor at the Paediatrics Ward of the Mt Hope Hospital, called officers of the Northern Division’s Child Protection Unit (CPU) because a woman sought medical help for a child’s injuries claiming the child had fallen.
“The child was rushed in for emergency surgery, thereafter, doctors informed CPU officers that the injuries did not match the report given by the woman,” police said.
The report also said the officers discovered the woman had given fake names for the child and her.
The officers visited the Talparo district where the child was said to have fallen, only to discover that a second child had similar injuries and was hospitalised almost a month before.
The report noted too that the children’s biological parents were found after a three-day search.
The report said on July 20, officers from the CPU sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) about the incident and charges will be laid soon.
The Children’s Authority is also dealing with the incident.
The Authority told Guardian Media as soon as they received the report of abuse, the Emergency Response Team began investigating the incident.
Its statement reminds parents and guardians to make sure children are left with “trusted, responsible, and known adults.”
Meanwhile, the children’s Speyside grandparents are praying for their grandchildren’s recovery as they lay in the Trinidad hospital in “critical condition.”
Guardian Media understands the older child is on a ventilator, fighting for his life.
The children’s father, who lives and works in Tobago, discovered their condition last weekend when he visited Trinidad, the grandmother told Guardian Media.
The Tobagonian mother, living in Trinidad, had allegedly left the children with the ‘babysitters’ and went work.