A MOTHER of five is desperately seeking counselling for her seven-year-old child whom she alleged was sexually molested on multiple occasions between the ages of two and five years old.

The single mother with children ages one to 13, said that between 2014 and 2016, she left her three children in the custody of her aunt because of an employment opportunity in Bartica.
During this period she claimed that her daughter had been molested.

Although she officially returned to town in 2016, the mother stated that she had been visiting her aunt’s house in Agricola at random intervals to check on her children while she was based in Bartica. She claimed that she was made aware of the assault only in 2017, when she saw a similar matter reported in the newspaper and decided to question her child.

“I had asked her several times before, while I was in Bartica, because I kept having this dream that somebody was interfering with her. So I kept asking her, she said ‘no’. She keep saying ‘no’. So I asked her in a different manner, that wasn’t, you know, wouldn’t make her afraid or so on,” the mother related.

She said that it was at this point that her daughter “came forth” and identified the individual, whom her aunt had been seeing at the time, claiming that he had “interfered with” her. The then seven-year- old had alleged that “it had happened” multiple times— some of which instances she could not properly recount.

Although the mother said statements were taken, and a video of the testimony recorded, the suspect was arrested but released after 72 hours, as— Hughes was informed—was protocol.
She claimed, however, that after resuming residence with her aunt, her daughter was molested again in 2017, this time by a different individual, who still lives with her aunt. Although the suspect was identified, statements taken and testimonies recorded, the suspect was released, again, after 72 hours. The case was reported to the Childcare and Protection Agency, the mother said but she has received no updates. “The last time I checked,” she said, she was told that “the matter was with the DPP awaiting advice, and that was it.”

The frustrated mother said she subsequently had to leave her aunt’s home, as it was threatened that her children would be taken from her custody, since the assault had been recurrent.
The mother is concerned about the mental state of her child, as she had been acting out from time to time. She believes that counselling and helping the child to understand what happened to her, would keep her from dwelling on her experiences and help her to move on.

Currently, the mother is unemployed, as she is scared to leave her children in anyone’s care, lest they be put in harm’s way again. As such, she is seeking assistance in acquiring foodstuff, clothing and other supplies for her and her children, aged one, three, seven and 13.

“I’m kind of paranoid to leave them around people,” she bewailed, in an interview with The Chronicle. “Remember, I leave them with an aunt—somebody that I trusted, and then this thing happened.”

Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ann Green, has since been contacted, and gave her assurance that a probe would be launched into the incident.