…accomplice arrested, Lindeners condemn sex act

A MAN, who was being sought by police in relation to a sex video that went viral, was found dead at the Kitty, Georgetown seawall on Tuesday.

Dead is 41-year-old Sherwin Apple also called “Yellow,” formerly of William Street Kitty and Silvertown, Wismar, Linden. He allegedly committed suicide.

His accomplice was late last evening arrested and is presently in custody at the Mackenzie Police Station, E Division Commander Anthony Vanderhyden has confirmed.

The body of Apple was found with no marks of violence and face down in the mud while blood was seen running from his nostrils. The body was taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home and is awaiting a post-mortem. The now dead man had returned to Guyana from Antigua a few years ago.

In the video, two men are seen engaging in sexual acts with a female teenager who later pleaded with the men to stop, but they continued. It is unclear at this time how the video was leaked, but the Childcare and Protection Agency has launched an investigation.
The incident allegedly took place in Linden, but it is unclear when it happened. It is alleged that the woman in the video is a relative of the man’s ex-girlfriend. Based on preliminary investigations, Apple reportedly went missing at around 19:00hrs on Monday.

Condemnation
Meanwhile, Lindeners have condemned the sex video. The Guyana Chronicle was told that on Tuesday, the teen and her mother visited a police station in Linden. Vanderhyden told the media that he cannot comment further on the matter since it is still under investigation.

Following the circulation of the video on social media, Vanderhyden launched an investigation into the matter after describing the content as very disturbing. The Guyana Chronicle heard voice notes sent Monday evening by Apple where he expressed his frustrations over the release of the videos. He said that the video happened a while back and it was completely consensual since the girl was role playing. In what sounded like he was holding back tears, Apple told the family member, “I going through my consequence, I going through my consequence, ya hear.” He said that he has no idea how the video was leaked but according to one of his sisters, he told her that it was being sold by the other guy involved.

While it was reported in some sections of the media that the video was leaked by a relative who happens to be a cousin of the teen in the video, the woman said that she had no idea of the video before Monday, since she has long been separated from Apple for over four years. “I have no reason to be vengeful, why would I do that, this is very painstaking for me because people pointing fingers at me for nothing I know about, I did not leak any video,” the relative said.

Do something for young girls
Women’s activists in Linden have publicly condemned the recent upsurge of sex videos coming out of the mining town over the last two months, all involving teens. It was described as a social phenomenon that needs to be addressed earliest. Chairman of the Regional Women’s and Welfare Committee, Denise Belgrave, condemned not only the actions in the latest video but in all that have been circulating thus far. She said that all agencies need to come on board “to ensure that our young women realise that they are valued and such actions are not reflective of their true value.” She made a call to all youth groups, women’s groups and NGOs to play their roles in stamping out this social ill. “We need to find effective ways, where we can be supportive of them, through counselling, visiting them, having discussions, we need to bring back guidance and counselling in schools because that helped me through MHS and in building my self-esteem…society needs to respond in a positive way,” she noted, adding, that “it is everyone’s business since not doing anything about it but gossiping and sharing, may very well come back to haunt us.”

Belgrave noted that she believes what went public over the past few weeks is just the tip of the iceberg and stakeholders need to see how best they can get back to the drawing board to save our teens from disaster.

Women On the Move International (WOMI) member, Judy Gravesande Noel said that as a women activist, she is calling for more programmes to be initiated at the community level to keep the youths meaningfully occupied so that they won’t find time for unscrupulous activities resulting in damaged characters. She said that there are many adults willing to volunteer their services in assisting youths to find their true value and potential within the communities. “In my area, there can be developed a community centre where I am willing to lend my expertise in sewing and cooking because I believe that is what is lacking, our young women need to get involved in meaningful things because they are not seeing themselves as valuable,” she said. Noel urged the older folk to keep looking out for the youths, keep talking to them as it is not a personal effort, but a community effort.