Pregnant children everywhereBy AZARD ALI Wednesday, July 1 2009
THERE are too many young girls walking around pregnant for men who should be charged and put behind bars, Justice Anthony Carmona said yesterday in the San Fernando High Court.
Carmona said the police should investigate the pregnancies of young girls because they are victims of a crime.
The judge called on the police to protect young girls as he revoked the bail of a man charged with having sex with an 11-year-old girl, after it was disclosed that he also had sex with a 12-year-old girl while on bail for the first offence.
Given the prevalence of girls 14 years old and younger who are becoming pregnant, Carmona said the time has come for police officers to adopt a vigilant approach to investigating the circumstances under which underage girls became mothers.
“We can speak of poor parenting, but we need to be proactive in arresting the problem of children becoming mothers,” Carmona said as he presided over the hearing to set a date for the start of the trial of the man who has been charged with having sex with a minor.
It is alleged the man, who is from south Trinidad, had sex with an 11-year-old girl between March 28, 2003 and April 20, 2003 in Williamsville. Carmona had previously continued the $20,000 bail set for the accused in the magistrates’ court before he was committed to stand trial for the sexual offence.
However, the judge noticed the accused sat in the dock for prisoners and not on the public benches, where persons on bail can sit, while waiting yesterday to hear the date on which the trial would begin.
At this point, State attorney Nizam Khan and defence attorney for the accused Jason Jackson then informed Carmona that the police had arrested the man on June 12, 2009, on the charge of having sex with a minor under the age of 14.
In this second case, the girl was 12 years old and the offence allegedly took place between January 1, 2005 and October 24, 2007, while the accused was on bail for the 2003 charge.
In relation to this second case, it is alleged that the man took the girl as his common-law wife and subsequently had two children with her. The girl is now 15.
After his arrest on June 12 last, the accused appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court. Wellington was informed that the accused was on $20,000 bail for the 2003 charge, after which the senior magistrate denied him bail for the second offence, and remanded him in custody.
Agreeing with Wellington’s decision to refuse the accused bail, Carmona said he must do the same and then revoked the $20,000 bail that had been granted for the 2003 offence. “The magistrate did quite the correct thing in attempting to protect the public who have become vulnerable to such crimes. Young children must be protected. This court has noticed many young girls underage, or appear to be under age, becoming pregnant. They are walking the streets and I think police officers must be more vigilant, and take the initiative to detect if the pregnant mother bearing a child, is a child. She is a victim of a crime.”
Repeating that he supported Wellington’s decision to refuse bail, Carmona said, “We need to arrest the problem of underaged girls giving birth and having children. No police officer is initiating or exploring the possibilities with a view to charging the persons who get them pregnant. It is a crime against these girls,” Carmona said.
The judge set the trial of the 2003 offence to be heard this month. The trial, however, will come up for hearing before another judge.
