Corozal 7-Year-Old is Target for Sex Assault
As outrage grows against the vile circumstances that led to the death of Alyssa, there is another case that police are investigating. A seven-year old schoolgirl was allegedly abused by a sixty-seven year old man who she called granddad. The incident happened about two weeks ago and came to light when the behaviour of the child raised alarm bells at home and at school. Today, News Five’s Duane Moody headed north and speaks to the mother of the child, also a victim of sexual abuse.
Duane Moody, Reporting
A sixty-six-year-old Corozaleno was officially charged late this evening for two counts of sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl. The man was taken into police custody over the weekend after allegedly evading arrest for almost two weeks after the incident was reported to the authorities.
Voice of: Mother of Alleged Victim [Translated]
“Miss Gomez arrived and the paediatrician came in to examine my daughter. That was the most frightening thing because they had to strip my child to check her. They asked her what happened and she said the man took off her shirt and my mother-in-law confirmed this. And she said that he did this and so they laid her down on the bed and said there wasn’t penetration, but they fondled her vagina. And my daughter and I began crying.”
According to the mother, she noticed that her daughter was acting strange and while taking her to school on the morning of February nineteenth, her daughter claimed that the man, well known to the family, and who is the boyfriend of her grandmother, had touched her inappropriately on her private parts.
Voice of: Mother of Alleged Victim [Translated]
“We took them to his house and I came to work. On Sunday, I got home around five o’clock from work; they wanted to go to a party and I told my mother-in-law to take them. They went and when they returned, I saw that my daughter was sad, but I thought that she was sad because her grandmother would soon leave and she wouldn’t see her. She slept in the room with my mother-in-law because she brought all her stuff to the house. But even though it was strange, I didn’t ask anything because I knew they were quarrelling and didn’t want to interfere. She told me that she didn’t want to tell me because if she does, I won’t let her see her grandmother. So I told her that her grandmother will always be her grandmother and I will never separate them. And she told me that the man touched her on the vagina and he did this and kissed her.”
The alleged perp was caught in the act by the child’s grandmother; the little girl was reportedly undressed. The grandmother has also given a statement to the police. A teacher also sounded the alarm when the child was saying that she was pregnant because she was allegedly abused. A social worker was called in and following a visit to the doctor, it was confirmed that the little girl had been fondled.
Voice of: Mother of Alleged Victim [Translated]
“On the Wednesday, the teacher asked to speak with me. That my daughter is saying something at school, but that she will speak with the principal, the teacher and my daughter. Before this, I called my mother-in-law on the Tuesday evening and she confirmed that it did happen; that she saw them. And my mother-in-law hit him and all that and said that she could not believe it. And the man told her that he likes her and my daughter likes him and he is in love with my daughter. My daughter then says yes, she loves him but as his grandfather. She calls him grandpa. My son calls him that too because my husband knows him for about thirty years. We went to the hospital; I can’t remember the name of the nurse, but she called the police and later three officers arrived and questioned my daughter, who reiterated what she told me. The police then said they will call Social Services and Miss Gomez arrived and she asked my daughter the same thing. She later went looking for the doctor and then said for us to return on the Thursday.”
The mother says she is speaking out not only for her daughter but for many other children and women, who are victims of sexual crimes, but continue to suffer in silence. The mother too was a victim of rape in her home country.
Voice of: Mother of Alleged Victim [Translated]
“I was afraid to do this interview because it has been really difficult for my daughter and I and for everyone. But I believe that if we don’t speak out, it will never stop and the incidents will continue to happen. My daughter will always remember this because she loved him a lot. I feel like I am healing too because it also happened to me and my daughter will have to overcome it. I hope that mothers pay more attention and ask their children more because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have known.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
