Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
OSBORNE
THE POLICE yesterday said that they hoped to charge at least two of four caregivers accused of sexually abusing children under their care in children's homes and places of safety by Wednesday.
"The file was sent to me on the weekend. I have looked at it and the documentation is now being prepared for the arrests of two persons. They will be charged hopefully by Wednesday," said Assistant Commissioner of Police George Williams, who is in charge of the Criminal Investigations Bureau.
He added that "There are two others who are to be charged but further investigations need to be done before they are charged based on the DPP's (Director of Public Prosecutions) ruling."
PROBE CONTINUES
Mr. Williams said the two caregivers are likely to be charged for various sexual offences, including indecent assault. Regarding the remaining two caregivers, he said investigations were now being carried out and that he hoped it would not take longer than this week to collect outstanding statements.
DPP Kent Pantry, Q.C., ruled last week that the two caregivers be charged immediately while two others were to be charged after further statements were collected. He 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 came more than two years after the cases were turned over to the police and later to the DPP's office.
The allegations were first made public by Kay Osborne, then a business executive based overseas, who discovered that a boy she was trying to adopt had been sexually abused while in state care. Her subsequent whistle-blowing in early 2003 led to a Sunday Gleaner exposé on the sexual and physical abuse of children in state care.
This was followed by 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.
However, in March human rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice said investigations carried out in three children's homes between October and December 2004 showed that serious problems still exist and that children are still at risk in some of these facilities.
