SENATE President LaShell Adderley.
By KHRISNA RUSSELL
Tribune Chief Reporter
krussell@tribunemedia.net
SENATE President LaShell Adderley said the four-year sentence a 40-year-old man received for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl was a “slap on the wrist,” charging that the law must change to protect minors.
Ms Adderley said she also thinks that the age of consent must increase to 18 from 16, adding that sentencing guidelines for offenders needed review.
Other senators also weighed in yesterday, calling for greater protection of children and victims.
Speaking in the Senate yesterday, Ms Adderley highlighted recent prominent cases of abuse and domestic violence, saying they were evidence that the system needs serious change.
“The recent unfortunate and traumatic cases of Baby Bella, Heavenly Terveus, Carissa Culmer, and the 14-year-old child who was impregnated by a man almost three times her senior, only for him to receive a slap-on-the-wrist sentence, reveals that our system is in need of critical legislative and social reform,” she said.
While over the last few years she said visibility around domestic violence, sexual assault, and incidents of abuse against women and children in The Bahamas has significantly increased, there are some victims that choose not to report their abuses for various reasons.
Still, she said, we must all ask what can be done as a society to help victims feel supported, protected and encouraged to come forward.
Ms Adderley proposed changes and stressed that this was not a matter to be used as a political football.
“Societal laws must reflect societal values,” she said. “What we value we must protect. The vulnerable in our society from Grand Bahama in the north to Inagua in the south needs to be protected, needs to feel safe and needs to be empowered. The Bellas, Heveanlys, and Carissas all need protection. Minors in particular need the strongest form of protection from sexual predators whether or not they consent. The law needs to protect the vulnerable even from themselves. Sexual predators should be locked behind bars for a significant period of time and fully rehabilitated.”
Additionally she said there was a need for comprehensive review and reform of sentencing for stiffer penalties that are just and fair, notwithstanding the conduct of a minor or woman.
Harsher penalties she said should be given to second-time offenders and that a starting point for sentencing guidelines “should be what is the appropriate sentence if the 14-year-old sexual victim is your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, niece or nephew.”
There is also a need for designated courts for domestic violence and sexual offences, resulting in swift justice, and stiffer penalties for persons who use social media to communicate, lure or entice minors into criminal activities, Ms Adderley said.
Her comments were endorsed by Free National Movement Senator Michaela Barnett-Ellis and Progressive Liberal Party Senator Michael Halkitis. The latter said he hoped the outrage that people felt would not just blow over but result in tangible change.
“I’m hopeful, Madame President, that this outrage and the conversation we are now having, spurs us to action,” the Cabinet minister said. “These are some vexing issues that we’ve been dealing with for several administrations; hopefully it is not the usual practice as it seems to be in our country where there’s outrage and as time goes on that outrage subsides. . .”
Comments
carltonr61 2 years, 7 months ago
Something must be done about young girls hanging out at nights and early morning. Covid policy has created a new space where children have been forced to survive on their own as once working parents just could not help. We do have a social disaster here. The family unit is in tatters desperate young girls need to called in. Hundreds of children remain educationally and socially abandoned. Covid policy was like a nuke in the amount of destruction caused. And the covid advocates want to continue this war calling for restrictions to remain then one day return to closed food stores. Family values can only be returned with direct economic help to stop the desperation. There needs to be some intervention security with uniforms, food and jobs to rescue an abandoned generation. We are caught in a tradewind of our times.
KapunkleUp 2 years, 7 months ago
Changing the legal age of consent is sidestepping the underlying issue. Obviously legal age had no impact on this case. We need laws that provide for prison time for the first offense.
Twocent 2 years, 7 months ago
Whoever allowed the 16yr old age of consent should be investigated for pedophillia! Most kids in college don’t even know who they are or what they want! Decision-making skills for such vital matters are not fully developed even then!
TalRussell 2 years, 7 months ago
Notice the airwaves total silence atop the hill by their fellow talkie hosts and news readers?
As your most in touch with Jib Talk comrade foresaw coming, the brass up hill at Guardian's Talk Radio has slapped two Talk show hosts off their programing schedule and stay tuned cause the slapping Three in the list be targeted hosts, goin' continue.
Characteristic of Anthon Thompson is on the move up the hill, ― Yes?
bahamianson 2 years, 7 months ago
So changing from 16 to 18 to protect minors does not protect minors just makes more minors. Need to amend the penalty for the breaking of the law , and shut down loopholes. Need to make it illegal for minor under the age of 18 to enter a club or dance. If they enter, charge the club owner. What happens when an assumed 18 yr old gets into a ompromising situation in a club ? Who is to blame? Is the individual assuming the age of 18 or is it the club owner whom shohld not let people under a ertain age in the club? Just saying that other measures need to be strenghtened or added.
carltonr61 2 years, 7 months ago
Yup. ID enforcement will get these fake adults in eye lashes, fingertips and body piercing back home by 10pm. Parents need help also for out of hand 13 to 18 year old female late night bar hopping masqueraders.
TalRussell 2 years, 7 months ago
Comrades, fight all you can muster against those determined to be quick remove the Privy Council, ― Yes?
BahamaRed 2 years, 7 months ago
Changing the age to 18 won't stop a pedophile from being a pedophile. A stricter penalty for pedophiles is what is needed. Changing the consent age only masks the underlying issue, which is that the law is to lenient when it comes to convicting pedophiles.
TalRussell 2 years, 7 months ago
@Comrade Bahama, research on pedophilia describes an attraction, not an action, and elected and appointed politicians' using it fuel age change to 18 will add its public misperception that pedophilia is synonymous with child sexual abuse, what real difference will age 18 make, ― Yes?
DDK 2 years, 7 months ago
Would this law change mean boys under 18 would have to find "older" women" or would they too have "to wait" until they turn 18?.
KapunkleUp 2 years, 7 months ago
The older woman would then be charged with statutory rape. If both are under the age of consent, no one breaks the law. This is how it usually works.
DDK 2 years, 7 months ago
Ah.............. Appreciate the edification!
Sickened 2 years, 7 months ago
The same arguments can be used in this instance that are used for the death penalty, being.... a harsh penalty doesn't stop someone from doing something it's just a punishment.
I personally believe that a harsh penalty will stop all sensible people from doing incredibly disgusting things. A harsh penalty is there to punish the sickos that are going to rape and murder people. Hopefully the penalties are harsh enough to remove sickos from society for ever.
carltonr61 2 years, 7 months ago
In the 70s, after a night on the town it was common to wake up with a no teeth woman. Apparently night prawlers are waking up to females donning school uniforms. Imagine the terror your female of the night is a student.
SP 2 years, 7 months ago
This is stupid. Why the hell is everyone only condemning the male in this situation? Why aren't we just as adamant about charging underage girls for engaging in sex as well?
John 2 years, 7 months ago
What next … will they bypass a law banning overweight people from McDonalds?
carltonr61 2 years, 7 months ago
We need the data on when these powerful women list their virginity. By the age of 15 years 50% of girls and at 13 😃 young boys done do it. We need some broad spectrum sexual data for the Bahamas as we are a part of reality and does not exist in a closed stupid world. We are natural and we have sex. Just try stop it as if we forgot what it was like to be young and ruled by hormones. The laws of lust and sin, just read King David. But in our times there remains a price to pay with an admittance of a broken moral society and lack of home guidance. What is important as Laing emphasized the value of home guidance and upbringing to talk all things of life. We parents don't know the lead sexusl affirmations kids are exposed to across the internet just as our parents did not know the back yard sexual conversations taught us and we belived Chinese female tings ran East to West and not North to South. But we bragged that we saw and know. The big boys told us so. Yes l Laing, there was no parental conversation. I guess sex was shameful to talk about. I am shock now that after having kids grand parenting becomes a life of its own. That was not in the manual also.
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