Ok, a huge story came out recently about a horror that has been silently destroying this country for what seems like forever, but is only now coming to light in a meaningful way. Dr Sandra Knight of the Bustamante Hospital for Children has revealed something that we all knew about but as usual, chose to ignore.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of little children, some as young as three or four years old, are being sexually abused by their guardians. The story was written by Ingrid Brown, a young woman who I am proud to say I supervised years ago when she was a talented reporter but still a diamond in the rough. That diamond is now shining bright. The light she shed on this story exposes another part of the dark underbelly of why this country has become so dysfunctional and why as a people, we are so prone to such high levels of violence and sexual perversion.

Little boys and girls are abused by pastors, fathers and, I am sure, mothers as well. Many of the perpetrators are still at large while the victims are shamed into or forced into silence by the same guardians who are either guilty of their heinous acts or guilty of helping to cover them up. Many of these cases are reported to the police, but like in the case of so many other crimes that are committed in this country, justice is slow in coming.

What kind of man does these things to defenceless children? The stories told to Ingrid Brown by Dr Knight are so graphic they made me wince as I read. Having been a crime reporter for many years, I have seen the worst that Jamaicans have to offer. I wrote a story once about a woman of unsound mind out in St Mary who killed her newborn child and removed the bones from the child's corpse. I have also seen things that have steeled my constitution against the evils of mankind, but reading about some of these episodes of child abuse made me sick to my stomach.

makes me sick to the stomach

What makes me equally sick to the stomach is the fact that you never hear a politician talk about changing the laws to allow the courts to impose more severe penalties on these paedophiles, these monsters who prey on the weak and defenceless.

The women, who are aware that these crimes are being committed, but do nothing, conveniently turning a blind eye to these atrocities, also need to feel the full weight of the law. Something needs to be done to speed up the wheels of justice for these cases, sexual predator registries need to be established and in short order. How long can we sit by and allow these sickening things to take place right under our noses and not act?

In this country we love to talk. Jamaicans for Justice shouts a lot when it comes to the actions of the police, but we are yet to hear from them about these incidents. Why? Aren't these children entitled to justice too? We have trod far down this very dangerous path of self-destruction. There is no justice for anyone except for those who can buy that justice and there is something very wrong with that.

The time is now for us to stop the chatter and start doing the things that make this country a better place. We should start with protecting our kids. Think about it. These kids that are being abused now will make up the population of this nation 10, 15, 20 years from now. Most likely because of the abuse they suffered today, they could be abusers in the future, or worse.

Is that the future we want for Jamaica?

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