Teen Charged For Rape Of Girl, 9

[Steven Ramadar]

*Taken from Newsday's website*

Thursday, November 20 2014

AN 18-year-old man yesterday appeared at the Scarborough Magistrates’ Court on three charges of grievous sexual assault and one charge of rape following the sexual assault of a nine year-old schoolgirl at the Scarborough Roman Catholic Primary School on Tuesday.

Jelani Arthur appeared before a Justice of the Peace yesterday. He was not called upon to plead as the charges were laid indictably. He is expected to appear before a magistrate today.*

Arthur previously faced similar charges against a five-year-old child three years ago and was housed at the Youth Training Centre. Tobago House of Assembly Secretary for Education Huey Cadette yesterday reported that a perimeter fence and round the clock security measures are being implemented at the school. He noted other measures including CCTV cameras are also being looked at.*

Classes have been closed and will resume on Monday.*

Cadette reported counselling will be provided for the child and her family as well as the school body. He also reported an assessment was conducted of security at all schools in Tobago some months ago by the Education Ministry and he was awaiting the final report.*

According to reports at about 1.30 pm, a man entered the unguarded school armed with a knife. He grabbed the student, locked her in a cubicle in the bathroom and sexually assaulted her. The alarm was raised and officers of the Scarborough Police Station arrived and arrested the man.






What are your thoughts on the matter? How can this be possible a second time? Why weren't measures put in place so he couldn't be called a repeated sex offender?

 

[Shadowhunter]

This kinda stuff gets me so flipping mad eh but I'm glad you highlighted this case. Sexual assault, rape, and abuse in general is dealt with too leniently in my opinion. In a lot of cases society is to blame when communities and families (sometimes even people in authority) tell victims "dais family/friend ting/young or old people, doh study it" or "what you complaining for? It coulda be worse" or "doh tell nobody nothing, you go just start one set ah bacchanal". I cannot tell you how many young girls I've spoken to who were raped or molested as children and talk about it like it's a normal family or community thing, a rite of passage, or even something they were specially "chosen" for. It's so sickening!!!! I cannot stress how badly the government needs to step up and prioritize these matters. Exploit the perps, increase precautionary knowledge about these matters, and let the punishments (real punishments, not 3 years in a youth center) be real and heavily broadcasted so the perps have something to fear.

In this case, the young man should have been tried initially as an adult. If they wanted his personal information withheld while under 18, fine. But broadcast the case and let people know this is happening, it is severely wrong, and such and such will happen as a consequence. The victim, perp, and anyone involved should receive extensive psychiatric counseling (not for a day, week, or month. however many years it takes, covered by the gov't) to help them understand what has happened and move past it healthily. Even though he was underage the first time, he should still have been prohibited from working or living near any schools, playgrounds, gated family communities etc and when seeking employment or education, this information should be brought to the relevant authorities at work, school, and around wherever he lives. (In the states sex offenders have to go door to door announcing that they are a sex offender. Here, they are free to hide among us like nothing ever happened.) He should have social workers or relevant authorities check up on him at least once a week or place an ankle monitor on him to ensure he does not go around child-populated areas.

In my opinion, 3 years is not enough and especially not in a youth center. He should have been transferred to an adult prison upon turning 18 to continue serving the full time for his crime but we know "the system" spits everyone out at 18. Now he should be charged with no holding back, hopefully a life sentence because I doubt the government would be willing to go to the strict but necessary cautionary measures if ever releasing him. Jail with no bail.



ETA: We need more child-friendly informative videos like this for starters:

[video=youtube;VkY0xqtw6W8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkY0xqtw6W8[/video]