And in another disturbing piece of news about a minor being abused, there is the case of the 14 year old minor who was beaten up by her 18 year old boyfriend whom she was living with in Independence village.
The boyfriend was charged for harm but the Minister says that the 18 year old is not the only one who will face the judge; her parents are expected to be charged as well. She explained why.
Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Human development
"This is one of a fourteen year old girl who does not have the age of consent with an 18 year old young man so it is a crime that has been committed and to make it even worse is the physical violence you know. Not only the sexual abuse but also the physical violence so again we have to hold perpetrators accountable I would say though that an 18 year old guy it's a little bit different that a 50 year old teacher so you may have some mitigating circumstances there however I want to mention that recently the director of public prosecution has ordered charges in a different case of. A 14 year old girl who is pregnant at the moment I think she is soon to have a baby and we had to remove her from the guy that she was living with in San Pedro but the parents allowed the 14 year old to go and live with the guy in San Pedro and it is possible that some money was being sent to the parents. Now if that is the case please I don't want to say something that was not so but if that was the case there would be elements of trafficking in persons there and exploitation, but I want to mention that the DPP herself is taking these cases very seriously, and the charges are apparently have been laid not only on the guy who is the baby father, but also on the parents. Both the mother and the father who allowed that 14 year old to go and live with somebody because a 14 year old is a child and we have to treat that as such and make sure that we hold parents and guardians and perpetrators accountable. I think that is the message today."
