Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The mother and stepfather of a 12-year-old girl have been arrested for aiding and abetting the sexual assault of their daughter by their 30-year-old neighbour, who is now on the run.

The quiet farming district of Rockland in St. Elizabeth has become the centre of a furore among residents in the parish and other parts of the island.

On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz police charged the 36-year-old woman and her 40-year-old common-law husband, with aiding and abetting carnal abuse and exposing their child to immoral behaviour.

They are to appear in the Malvern Resident Magistrate's Court today. The child faced the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday where the judge ordered that she be taken to a place of safety. She is to return to court on March 16 for further instructions to be made.

Police say there is reasonable evidence to substantiate that the 12-year-old girl was swapped for a piece of land on which her parents were allowed to erect a one-room zinc shack to house a family of eight. She was allegedly sent to shack up with the land owner's 30-year-old son.

"The police have certain information that in January of 2006, the child and her family were living in a rented house elsewhere and had subsequently removed. In May of that same year, the father of the accused man assisted them with a piece of land on which they could build a house. That was the same month that the child went to live with the accused," confirmed Woman Constable Yvette Grant, of the Santa Cruz Police Station.

A blatant lie

But the accused man's father has described as a blatant lie that his son has interfered with the child. On a visit to the community yesterday, he retorted: "Nobody nuh swap no land fi woman. If that was di case, anybody to get di woman would have been me. Massa God charge dem fi dat wicked lie. Not a earthly thing nuh go so."

But residents had mixed feelings about the incident. "Mi feel sorry fi dem, the mother, stepfather and children. The woman is really in need of help. I would not want that to happen to me," one woman interjected. Another claimed that the child was being molested for a long time.

It is understood that the abused girl and her siblings attended school irregularly and often acted out of character with other children. It was her strange behaviour that led to the police commencing an investigation about her social and economic well-being. Arising from the incident, the Child Development Agency has commenced investigations into the welfare of the five other children to determine if they are in need of care and protection. The children are now staying with relatives in a neighbouring district.

The police are alleging that since last May, the accused man often gave the girl's parents money and food for them to go to school. Constable Graham said investigations suggested that neither parent took steps to remove their daughter from the man's house. "Mother and child visited each other frequently. She helpedmother to do home chores. Mother and stepfather encouraged the man not to get the child pregnant and that he should send her to school. The stepfather and the accused smoked ganja together," Constable Graham said. She said she was sending a strong message to irresponsible parents not to indulge in similar practices.