The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Myles Laroda yesterday urged people to be cautious about who they trust and accept rides from as concern grows over a series of reported sexual assaults, including cases involving alleged attackers known to the victims.

Mr Laroda said people should remain aware of their surroundings and take steps to protect themselves, while acknowledging that some alleged perpetrators were not strangers.

“I'd use the same line the police use: be aware of your surroundings,” Mr Laroda said on the sidelines of a CARICOM firearms trafficking event. “Try to keep yourself safe.”

He said people should also know who they are travelling with because some victims knew their alleged attackers.

“Know the people who are around you, who you’re going to be catching rides with because some of the victims their perpetrators or alleged perpetrators are known to them,” Mr Laroda said.

His comments came after police reported several recent sexual assault complaints, including incidents involving women who allegedly accepted rides from strangers and others who said they were assaulted by people they knew.

Over the weekend, police reported two cases involving teenage girls who were allegedly sexually assaulted after becoming impaired.

In the first incident, the mother of a 14-year-old girl told police that her daughter was picked up on Saturday by a suspected taxi driver who was dropping off customers at several locations.

Police said another man entered the vehicle during one of the stops before the two men drove the girl to an area near a service station.

At the far eastern end of the station, the men allegedly mixed a drink for the girl.

Police said she began feeling drowsy after drinking it and alleged that both men sexually assaulted her despite her objections.

The girl was taken to hospital for further medical evaluation.

In a separate case, an 18-year-old woman told police she received a video from a male friend showing her having sex with a man known to her, although she said she had no memory of the encounter.

The woman recalled having a few drinks with a friend at Arawak Cay on Saturday before going to a friend's residence on Kemp Road.

Police said a man approached her at the residence and asked her for sex, but she refused.

The woman said she suspects she may have passed out and only became aware of the alleged incident after watching the video.

The cases have added to public concern over recent reports of sexual assault and the circumstances in which some victims say they were targeted.