Victoria Charles-Clarke
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of St. Lucia Victoria Charles-Clarke has said that child sexual abuse is a “matter of grave concern” for the island.
Officials say there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of child sexual abuse in St. Lucia. Just this week, Saint Lucia News Online (SNO) learned of a recent case in Dennery where it is alleged that two brothers raped a six-year-old girl. That incident reportedly occurred in late June and is under investigation.
Speaking to media recently, Charles-Clarke said while much attention is being placed on murder cases, sexual abuse matters are the dominant offenses at the courts.
“I think all persons need to come on board to see how we can deal with this problem which I think is endemic. Speaking from the criminal justice system [point of view] I see a lot of cases of child sexual abuse and the majority of cases of sexual abuse involve children. We are in a critical situation. I think here in this country, the emphasis is on murders that are being committed, however it might surprise the public to know that most of our cases are cases of sexual abuse,” she said.
Asked whether she believes child predators often escape the justice system she responded: “Well I wouldn’t say they escape. I think the laws are there and once the reports are made and investigations are conducted and persons are charged, they go through the criminal justice system; but there are factors that cause a lot of these cases not to go through the full course of the judicial process.”
These factors, according to Charles-Clarke are “alarming” areas of concern. She listed the under-reporting of child sex crimes and the discontinuation of such cases by parents themselves as the two main reasons for the non-prosecution of sexual abuse cases.
“We see a lot of these cases where parents, surprisingly of children, indicate that they do not want the prosecution to continue. Also, we are aware, although we may not have the real evidence, that there are a lot of arrangements being made outside of the criminal justice system where persons enter agreements not to prosecute cases,” she stated.
The director of public prosecutions said she is convinced that these factors impact the successful tackling of child sexual abuse.