PantryAndrea Downer and Trudy Simpson, Gleaner Writers
THE POLICE yesterday charged a pastor in connection with reports of alleged sexual abuse of children in state care. He is booked to appear in court in Portland next week.
Assistant Commissioner of Police at the Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB), George Williams, said yesterday that the pastor, whose name has been withheld, was arrested in Buff Bay, Portland, on Thursday.
He is the second person charged in connection with the alleged cases of sexual abuse of children in some of the island's children's homes and places of safety.
Four persons in total are expected to be charged based on the ruling of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The first person, 46-year-old Noel Haye, was charged earlier this week and appeared in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday to answer a charge of carnal abuse.
He is scheduled to return to court on July 4.
Mr. Haye, who was employed at the Maxfield Park Children's Home, was charged in relation to the alleged sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl who was a ward of the state.
The girl, who is now 20 years old, became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl who is now six years old. A police officer told the court that Haye is supporting the child financially.
The police are now conducting further investigations with a view to charging the other two persons. According to ACP Williams, the police expect to conclude their investigations into these cases soon. The charges stem from a recent ruling by Kent Pantry, Q.C., the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr. Pantry made the ruling after examining a file containing 23 cases of alleged sexual abuse which were said to have taken place in some of the island's children's homes and places of safety. The ruling and charges come more than two years after the alleged cases were turned over to the police and later to the DPP's office.
PROTESTS
The allegations were first made public by Kay Osborne, a business executive who took steps to adopt a boy and discovered that he was sexually abused while in state care.
Her subsequent protest in early 2003 led to a Sunday Gleaner expose on the sexual and physical abuse of children in state care.
This prompted a Government-ordered probe into 57 children's homes and places of safety and 46 recommendations from a four-member investigation committee.
The probe confirmed some of the abuses and led to Government's promise of changes in the system.
