Two arrested for sex crimes against children

A twenty year old Dangriga man has been arrested after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with a thirteen year old girl. According to Dangriga police, the minor reported she was sleeping at a neighbor’s house around four in the morning when Theodore Arzu entered the bedroom through a window and had sex with her. Police say they were called out to the residence after the owner reported hearing noises and then saw Arzu inside the house. The laborer of a Lakeland address was later arrested and charged with carnal knowledge. Arzu claims that he knows the minor and that she let him inside the room and allowed him to have sex with her. But according to the law a minor cannot give consent.

In Belize City, the Criminal Investigations Branch has arrested a thirty year old man after he allegedly assaulted an eleven year old school boy. The boy reported to police that around nine forty five in the morning of May thirteenth while he was at a park by the corner of Kelly Street and Baymen Avenue, a man later identified as Kenrick Franklin approached him. The child says Franklin took him behind the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School, unzipped his pants, touched his private parts and kissed him. The student said he kicked the man in the legs and ran. Franklin was charged with indecent assault and has been remanded to the Hattieville Prison.

Although the boy reported that the incident occurred during school hours, Oscar Reyes, who is in charge of the school warden program says there is a warden posted at the school who monitors student activity and has a clear view of the park. On that morning the warden did not report anything out of the ordinary. Reyes questions the time the incident reportedly occurred and says he believes it may have happened after school hours. Reyes says since the program began on May tenth students are remaining in school and there have been far fewer reports of children being abused or accosted on the streets as they make their way to school.