By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE POLICE are urging caregivers, parents and guardians to spend more time listening to their children and being vigilant, in the wake of a number of incidents involving the sexual abuse of minors.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Hyacinth Newman of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, said Monday that caregivers must be observant because many children are still being left vulnerable to carnal abuse, buggery and incest.
The highest rates occur in Kingston and St. Catherine, she said.
"Some children are crying out for help and some children are not going to come right up and tell you that something is happening to them but they will act it out and you as a caregiver and parent should observe it and know that something is wrong," said DSP Newman.
INCREASE IN INCIDENTS
DURING HOLIDAYS
She said while cases of carnal abuse tend to fluctuate from month-to-month, the numbers tend to go up when children are on holiday, especially during Easter and summer.
"It's probably because children have more time on their hand. Some don't go to summer school. The parents are gone to work and nobody is there to supervise. They go walk in the park or go shopping and all those places unsupervised," she said.
She urged caregivers to keep their children in structured activities and to make sure that they are properly supervised and protected at all times. She is also urging people to report cases to the police, not resort to vigilante justice.
PROGRESS THROUGH EDUCATION
She said some progress has been made in recent times through public education, which has resulted in more persons reporting carnal abuse but caregivers need to be on their guard because the danger sometimes come from persons close to the children.
Police statistics show law enforcers received 20 reports of incest in the last six months, a decrease from the 36 cases reported in a similar time frame last year. But, this appears to be under-reported, DSP Newman confirmed, as many persons do not report these crimes.
Police statistics also indicate a substantial increase in the number of carnal abuse cases coming to police attention in the first six months of 2003 compared to the same period last year. The police statistics department recently reported a 21 per cent jump in the number of carnal abuse cases reported up to July sixth this year, from 169 last year to 205. Rape also increased from 448 last year to 467 this year.
The bulk of persons affected are girls but the Centre is also getting reports about boys being abused.
DSP Newman was unable to break down the statistics by age group, but said children under 15 years old are also among victims in the 36 buggery cases reported between January 1 and June 30, 2003. This is up from the 21 cases reported in the same period last year.
Statistics also show that there have been a number of arrests. Between January 1, and June 30, 2003, the police arrested 173 persons for carnal abuse, up from 114 the previous year; 24 persons for buggery, up from 14 in 2002 and 15 for incest, down from 29 in 2002.
