Christopher Thomas, Star Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:

As Jamaica continues to grapple with more and more cases of child abuse, a St James man was fined $6,000 in the Montego Bay Resident's Court last Friday for slapping a nine-year-old boy in his face.

Woody Evans, who is of a Montego Bay address, pleaded guilty with explanation when he appeared in court to answer a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for the incident, which took place on Saturday, August 4.

According to Evans, the youngster lit a fire close to his house and when he was asked to put it out, he flatly refused and instead used insulting words to him. It was at that time that he said he struck the youngster.

"He (the child) was burning fire, it was something to burn at the dump," he told Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small. "My son had spread his shirts on the line, and the smoke was spreading and even now it's hurting my head. I told him to put out the fire and he used cuss words to me."

"You should have called his mother's attention to it," the judge said. "If something like this happens in the future, you need to call the parents' attention to it; you cannot go around slapping other people's children."

additional expenses

The court was also told that the child suffered a damaged eardrum as a result of the slap, for which Evans was ordered to pay $6,000 to cover treatment. Evans, who is to return to court on September 3, is expected to face additional expenses for the injuries to the child.

Reacting to the incident and the court action against Evans, Betty Ann Blaine, founder of child advocacy group Hear the Children's Cry, said the court's ruling was a slap on the wrist given the injury sustained by the child.

"A $6,000 fine is shameful for a crime such as that," said Blaine. "That person should be rehabilitated and do community service. That should send a message to the rest of the society that we're serious, but this is like a slap on the wrist. Who is going to compensate that child for that kind of trauma and abuse?"

Blaine also called for child-advocacy stakeholders to come together and decide on strategies to combat child abuse in Jamaica.

"I think it's time for the critical stakeholders to come to the table; the Government, the Children's Registry, our family courts, non-government organisations working with children, and the churches. I think it's time we bring all those major players to the table and decide how we're going to collectively deal with this problem of the abuse of our children," declared Blaine. "This is our 50th anniversary of Independence. Are we prepared to go into the next 50 with this blight, how we treat our children? It is not acceptable."