Police officials would only say that the little girl’s family reported her missing sometime Thursday evening. The reports added that a search for the child continued into yesterday morning when police found the primary school-aged child alive but bloodied and severely traumatised.
She was found in an area near BEC’s Blue Hill and Soldier Road Power Station by Police. Although they will not release any more information on this incident, it is believed that they may know who is responsible for the crime.
While police officials are staying tight-lipped about the incident, this latest bout of child molestation drives home the point that sex crimes against the country’s youth is on the rise.
The Guardian reported earlier this month that cases of sexual abuse of children for the first six months of the year have seen a “disturbing” increase of almost 20 per cent over the same period last year, according to the latest statistics released by the Department of Social Services, Children and Family Services Division. Statistics indicate that between January and June of 2006 there were 49 reported cases of sexual abuse of children, compared to the 41 cases reported last year, representing a 19.5 per cent increase.
The 2005 figures relating to the different forms of abuse of children, from January to June, show that there were 100 reported cases of physical abuse, 22 cases of incest, five cases of verbal abuse and three cases of child abandonment.
This year, over the same time period, there were 67 reported cases of physical abuse, nine cases of incest, two cases of verbal abuse and four cases of child abandonment. This six-year-old’s apparent rape now adds to these disturbing figures.
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
