By Robert Hart, Staff Reporter
Junor
A JOINT select parliamentary committee has proposed that stiff penalties of as much as $1 million or 10 years in prison be meted out to persons who exploit or endanger children.
Among the penalties recommended during yesterday's sitting of the Joint Select Committee examining the Child Care and Protection Bill was a $1 million fine for the "unauthorised publication" of any report revealing the particulars of a child involved in "certain court proceedings."
The penalty was primarily noted as a caution to media houses, and attorney-at-law Paula Blake-Powell was moved to comment on a court case involving the alleged carnal abuse of a child.
"It might have made for good reading, but the way that it was reported, there was no doubt about the identity of that little girl," Mrs. Blake-Powell, representing the Jamaica Coalition on the Rights of the Child, told the committee.
THE HOUSE
Speaking during yesterday's sitting, Health Minister John Junor said he was hoping to get the Bill to the House of Representatives before the end of the legislative year.
"I do not want Parliament to be prorogued without this Bill being debated," Mr. Junor said.
The Health Minister, who is also committee chairman, was guiding his colleagues through their deliberations on the proposed penalties.
The $1 million penalty was in line with that suggested for the unauthorised disclosure of information relating to a medical examination of a person charged or convicted for abusing a child. That offence also carries a 12-month prison sentence in default of payment.
OTHER PENALTIES
Among the other penalties proposed was $500,000 or six months in prison for the failure to report a suspected case of child abuse and $250,000 or three months for knowingly filing a false report.
The committee also recommended a 10-year prison term for the sale or trafficking of children as well as a $1 million fine for employing a child in a night-club or for indecent purposes.
On the latter offence, Minister Junor said: "This thing is too prevalent in the society. I think that any establishment that employs a minor for these purposes should have its licence revoked."
