Child care Director renews calls for Special Victims Unit

…says it will address slothfulness in probing sex crimes

To address the slothfulness in probing sex crimes against children, Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CC&PA), Ann Greene has renewed her call for a Special Victims Unit (SVU) to be established within the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Greene made this call on Friday in an interview with Guyana Times during which she acknowledged that “sex abuse cases do not get to court fast”.
Asked specifically for figures on the number of child rape reports for 2021 that are now court cases, Greene said, “…the cases getting to court is a long way. Sex abuse cases do not get to court fast.” On this note, she disclosed that the majority of child rape reports received for 2021 are still under investigation.
According to Greene, the problem lies with the “system” which permits the Police to hold a suspect for 72 hours. If charges are not filed after the 72-hour period, the Police have to release the suspect on bail, unless an extension to hold them is granted by the High Court.
The State, however, reserves the right to file charges at a later time.
“When 72 hours gone the Police has to loose the man out of the lock-ups. [Sometimes] the man walks away from the case, walks away from the country. It is not speedy. The Police has to prepare their files and send it to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions). So, it is a process. You have to go back and find them, and many times the Police cannot find the perpetrators,” Greene explained.
“So we have a lot of cases that we cannot get to see the end of them. That is a challenge we are working on. I am not bashing the Police because we have to cooperate with them… But the system… We have to get a speedier system to deal with child sexual abuse.”
Greene stressed that given the number of child rape/abuse reports across the country, there is an urgent need for the establishment of an SVU. The Michigan State University defines a SVU as a team of sworn personnel that investigates sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, harassment, child abuse, vulnerable adult abuse, hate crimes, and missing persons’ cases.
The SVU would include a team of specially trained Police ranks, social workers, and public health workers such as psychologists and psychiatrists. “I have been calling for us to establish a Special Victims Unit so that everything can be done fast and within the 72 hours the [perpetrator]is placed before the courts.”
Greene noted that the SVU will facilitate speedier probes which will see perpetrators of sexual offences against children being brought to justice swiftly. Moreover, she noted that it will also prevent such crimes. Greene applauded the Sexual Offences Courts which, according to her, have been yielding speedier trials.