Top Govt. official fingered in sex scandal at NOC

- Human Services Minister orders probe

By Latoya Giles

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, has ordered the Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Ann Greene, to investigate the alleged sexual molestation of female inmates of the New Opportunity Corps.

Minister Webster told Kaieteur News, yesterday, that her Ministry received reports from the parents of the alleged victims on Tuesday.

“I have asked the Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency to conduct an investigation. We are currently conducting an investigation,” Webster said.

Minister Webster’s comments came amid reports that several teenage girls have alleged that a senior government official from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport was one of the individuals who had sexual intercourse with them at the New Opportunity Corps.

This new revelation comes on the heels of several other allegations made by the teenage girls.

Yesterday, Member of Parliament Chris Jones told Kaieteur News that to date Minister Frank Anthony is still to say anything on the allegations. Jones alleges that the Ministry is covering up something which is criminal in the state of Guyana.

“We have information of the official having sex with the young ladies…along with other male caregivers” Jones told Kaieteur News. According to Jones they have also spoken to the young ladies who are alleging that they were forced to have unprotected sex and then given the “morning after pill”.

Jones added that at least three females have taken pregnancy tests with one coming out negative. The other two, according to Jones, have not been revealed up to press time.

Jones said that within the last several days, three teenage girls appeared before the Magistrate at the Anna Regina Court. He said that they were represented by Attorney at Law Dexter Todd who appeared amicus.

According to Jones the Magistrate ordered that three girls be put on probation which is to be spent at the NOC. He said that over the weekend Mohamed Shaeed, a caregiver at the NOC, informed them that they had to spend another year at the institution.

This according to Jones pushed one of the female’s to attempt suicide. “She began cutting herself ….all because they brought out the injustices they were facing at the NOC and now subjected to further abuse,” Jones told Kaieteur News.

Jones contended that if the Ministry is serious, Minister Anthony should grant the young ladies an exit so they could contribute to an investigation. Jones further told Kaieteur News that his party is in the process of preparing a dossier which would be sent to various international organizations.

“One dossier will be filled with statements of the children and the government of Guyana inaction to deal with these matters” Jones explained.

The parents have been taken to the Child Protection Agency and they have signaled that they will move swiftly to address the issues.

Jones said that he was hopeful that after the 2012 unrest, the inquiry would have spoken on the issues.

“His failure to adequately deal with the matter shows how non-performing the Minister is”, Jones noted. “With all the laws that were passed at the national level…the Minister should have been more proactive with the situation” Jones told Kaieteur.

Jones said that the end of the day Government has failed miserably to adequately deal with youths in Guyana and parents who seek the state’s intervention.

“Government has failed youths; you send your child to the NOC for help and they could either come out either pregnant, open to sexual transmitted diseases among other things,” Jones lamented.

“I would tell parents that they should not send their children to the NOC, to keep them home and seek other alternative counseling methods. Don’t send them to the NOC; they coming out worst than how they went in” Jones told Kaieteur News.

Meanwhile, in an invited comment, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said that every single allegation of rape and pedophilia “should be taken seriously, investigated swiftly and tried urgently.”

“This is particularly true for allegations made by children or adults who are in the care of the state. I am aware that Minister Anthony and Minister Webster are collaborating on the investigation of the NOC matter, and I expect that swift and necessary action will be taken by the respective Ministry to address the allegations sensitively and firmly, with a view to determine what happened, and more particularly, to make sure that those institutions are safe places and the residents there are protected,” Manickchand said.

Opposition Leader Brig. David Granger had said that his party had no confidence in the capability of the Ministry of Culture, to administer the New Opportunity Corps.

Granger had proposed that the responsibility of the Corps be transferred to another Ministry or agency that possesses the requisite personnel and skills and is better prepared to tend to the lives of juveniles sympathetically.

He stressed, “It is evident that a new approach and a new agency are needed to curb the perpetuation of abuses and interpersonal violence which are still occurring in the Corps.

“APNU is concerned that the worst incident of violence in the entire history of the Corps occurred in August 2012 and involved about one-third of the juveniles in the Corps. The Minister however, has been unable to present the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the National Assembly after over 20 months.

“The absence of the report clearly has resulted in the Ministry’s inability to comprehend the problem and to prevent the recurrence of abuses similar to those that are alleged to have triggered the August 2012 events.

“The last escape occurred between March 22 and March 24, this year. It involved 11 juveniles.”

Granger had said that APNU has been disturbed, particularly by the new reports of sexual harassment and exploitation of juvenile girls by male staff members and older males.