Should penalties be increased for predators?
At the end of 2009, police showed a decrease in reported cases of carnal knowledge. While a decrease is reported, it is also known that this sexual offence often goes unreported. In a most recent case, a man is being accused of sexually abusing a young girl since she was nine years old. According to the laws of Belize, if a person is found guilty of carnal knowledge, the penalty is determined based on the child’s age. When the child is below the age of fourteen, the maximum sentence that can be attained is life imprisonment, however, if the child is between the ages of fourteen to sixteen the maximum sentence decreases to ten years. So tonight we ask: Should penalties be increased for predators that are found guilty of sexually abusing minors who fall in the fourteen to sixteen age range? Send your comments and responses using your SMART phones to 8686 or post your vote on our e-poll at channel5belize.com. You can also send an email with your comments to questions@channel5belize.com.
……………. the question should if people who is found guilty of murder should be put to death within 30 dates i would say yes
Mein that’s one heck of a question! Well… see in Belize everybody wants us to impose harsher penalties (not that i am ignorant or anything like that… and which I do agree with to some extent especially when it comes to murder!) we can impose harsher penalties indeed, but, cases like “sexual abuse” are quite slanted. By this I mean, we are quick to punish the men [maybe there are women too (who knows??)] but if we really look at our society Belizeans… take a walk around Belize City alone and you will see how many females are pregnant and of those calculate how many of them are under the age of 18! We have a young lady that lives nearby that is only 13 and she already has a child and there are many of whom i know have had children at a young age like her. It’s sad… and we are in a RECESSION!!!!! these are not the times to be procreating like crazy. I am a young woman with a degree from a prestigious college in Belize, that pay that I am getting ain’t helping to cover crap, so imagine them with a baby, the man might leave and all of that and they are on minimum wage – that’s if they get a job. I think it’s not just the adult in this case that are sometimes guilty but also the “so-called victim”- not that I think that all of them are. Some of them go looking for that- a cliche- but it holds truth. If a child is under 12 I believe that they to some extent may not be well educated enough to make a sound decision as to engage in sexual activity or not… in this case the adult I believe is indeed abusing that child and for that I say lock their butts up in prison with no probation and no bail! In the case of the 14 to 16 age range I am still uncertain, that’s a funny (not literal) group to deal with. If harsher punishment will be a good deterrent to sexual abuse- whether it be physical, internet exploitation and/ or human trafficking I say I am all for it. I am telling you Belizeans watch that 14-16 age group it’s NOT all the time the adults are GUILTY ALONE… (not that I am fully defending them) but those girls, you better watch them… they too are sometimes guilty of causing those situations… using the gifts God gave them and flaunting them…you women don’t try and play like you didn’t or aren’t trying to catch the attention of a possible man using your assets… it works, remember Solomon of the bible and the way he describes the body of a woman, her lips, her breasts… you catch my drift (SEDUCTION!) maybe that’s why when Adam saw Eve, he called her “WO – MAN” because she was so beautiful!. We can’t just punish one and leave the other guilty one alone. i am a young woman and i believe in equal rights and equal punishment, I say punish the both of them in this case, having people set up organizations to help pregnant juveniles??… they knew all too well what unprotected sex can bring, who knows if they did not willingly indulge and now theycan’t handle it???
Normally, I can comment and give a firm standing on any topic but this is a topic and-a-half, for the first time I feel entangled.
Other commentators, HELP!!! Your constructive criticism is welcomed!
Sincerely, Belizean Creole Gyal!
There is so many females outhere who are willing and able have sex and fun ,why take advantage of trhe little kids ….
I say k……… them!!!!
These predators are not even been convicted as a result i don’t know how penalties for them can be increased.In my opinion some of these kids parents should be held for neglecting them.I also believe that the Government have a part to play in proteting these kids if their family has fail to do so.The people of Belize need to start putting the Department of Social Service to work.
Why not increase the time that murderers spend behind bars instead? Isn’t murder a more harsh crime than abuse? Yet on a daily basis murderers spend little or no time behind bars while abusers spend a lifetime. Seems as though the punishment outweighs the crime here in Belize where as major crimes spend less time and minor crimes spend more time. We as a people are loosing focus on what the pressing issues are. For one, i do not condone child abuse one bit but i do believe persons found guilty should be punished to the full extent of the law…in my view increasing the penalties will do nothing to stop whats happening in society. Then again you always can’t place all the blame on the male figures. I think that there should also be some type of punishment for the supposed victim as well….like charing them with solicitation of some sort. Both parties should know better and be accountable for their actions and if it ends up in court, then both should be punished as prescribed by the law.
You could make the penalty a million years…..OK lets say tommorow our law makers make the penalty for predators a million years…IT WILL NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT WHATSOEVER
Simply because there are not enough convictions. If you make the mandatory sentence a million years and you have close to zero convictions there is no way on earth it will have a deterrent effect.
Invest in better investigative techniques and qualify cops who prosecute as best as possible.
Like the lady said above this is not an easy decision to make. I am a woman and some of these yooung girls are far well advanced and pushy than i am when it comes to men. I beleive that both the male and the female shd be held accountable, because from the first attempt she shd have reported him to say that she is not in agreement. Also parents needs to be held more accounatble for their children and there whaerabouts. Sometime we as parents fail because i believe if we teach our children about the way of the Lord it will help sometime to head in the right direction and not have those PERVERTS confuse and use them. We have to be our kids best friend so they will feel comfortable confiding in us at all times and in whatever situation they are in.
It depends on the circumstances. In some cases the child gives full concent to have a carnal relationship with these men and moreover the parents are fully aware of the situation because money is involved and with the rate of poverty many of these families fnd this as a means of income. Therefore, how can the penalties be increased. On the other hand if a child is involved with out giving her concent and is being force by the mother (she is trafficing her child) or the predator (it is rape). I would say in this situation both parties should be charge and I would agree to increase the penalties.
Fancy face: Some of these kids parents also use them for financial incentives.Are you saying that a concern parent wouldn’t know that her 10year old daughter is been sexually exploited by these by one of these perverts?
me personally thing it shouldn’t matter what is the age range of the innocent person that is being mulested, being it a male of female that is doing the molestation should be charge to the fullest extent of the law not ten years becoz the person is under a certain age but becoz he the person committed a unforgiveable crime on someone who can not help their self, often time we see where these people get let out and then commite the crime over an over again an some time it end up with them murdering to person, so i say either, u keep them in jail or if u gonna let them out then they should be castrated, sounds harsh but oh well then they shouldn’t be a molester.
I agree FULLY with Conflict Theorist……she’s right…at least she is one female who at least has some ounce of faith left and is not so quick to judge an stereotype all males in general. This is what i don’t get…..peoples perception of males are so one sided when you hear about abuse and carnal knowledge in the news. They are quick to judge them and label them perverts…but true they may be guilty of that, but that doesn’t mean the females involved didn’t have a major part to play in the situation they got themselves caught up in. People have to realize that life is hard out here nowadays and people will do what they must to put food on the table. A number of mothers are out here pimping out their young daughters to these same men for financial gain. But you never hear about this on the news, some even willingly go with these men and when they are caught, the female is always presumed innocent and is seen as being taken advantage of or abused. Both parties should be held responsible and punished.