Stepfather disappears…In Cummings Lodge child molestation case

Jan 12, 2012 News

Both the Ministry of Human Services’ Child Protection Agency and the police have commenced investigations into yet another reported case of child abuse. This one has been rocking the village of Cummings Lodge on the East Coast of Demerara.
This newspaper first learnt of the alleged abuse, involving three sisters ages nine, seven and five, through reports made by concerned neighbours. They took the matter to police and subsequently to this publication after becoming frustrated over the “snail’s pace” progress.

Director of the Child Protection Agency, Ann Greene

According to one concerned resident, she first got wind of the allegations following a disclosure from the eldest sister, who revealed that she was being molested by her stepfather.
Recounting the child’s startling disclosure, the woman said that “‘(the child) said how he (stepfather) tell me fuh tek off me pants and me panty and fuh put on this pink wan (one)…’” The step-father would then allegedly commit the molestation.
While it has not been confirmed, there are reports that the man has also been molesting the two younger sisters as well. “We use to hear them children screaming in the night and when you ask he what happen to the children he does just say he don’t know what happen to them and all kinds of excuse…but we never buy (accept) what he say,” one resident disclosed.
The mother had reportedly left the children with their stepfather to pursue a job offer in an interior location. She reportedly left last month. Neighbours say that the woman had only started the relationship a few months prior.
The resident said that following reports of the allegation to the police, “the police instead of coming and deal with the matter … asking we if we gonna keep the children if the Human Services tek them away…”
Following the disclosure of the alleged molestation action earlier this month, reports are that the stepfather has since disappeared from the Cummings Lodge neighbourhood.
Further, the resident revealed that two days ago they were shocked to learn that the Human Services Ministry had entrusted the girls into the care of the suspected abuser’s sister who lives in the same East Coast Demerara community.
However, Director of the Human Services Ministry’s Child Protection Agency, Ann Greene, in an invited comment yesterday said, “We are looking into the matter.”
She explained that the Agency has a responsibility to ensure that children who are believed to be molested are placed into a secure environment with the least disruption to their lives.
She added that it is not in every instance that the Ministry can place abused children into orphanages. “Even if we place the children in the care of the man’s sister, it must be a place that we believe that the children are safe.”
The children will remain in such custody, the Director said, pending the completion of an investigation, which is currently ongoing by the Agency and the police. The entities, she said, are working in close collaboration.
In the interim, Ministry officials have and will continue to monitor children and their environment, Ms Greene said.