City constable reported to police over alleged sex with minor -had faced previous sex assault complaint

A report has been made to police against a city constable, who is accused of engaging in sexual activity with a minor boy in the precincts of constabulary’s headquarters at City Hall.

The case is already being investigated by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s Legal Affairs Committee.

The minor, who is 15, was arrested in August for wandering and taken to the constabulary’s headquarters on Regent Street. It is alleged that while there, he was approached by the male constable, who is a Lance Corporal. The Legal Affairs Committee’s report, seen by this newspaper, has said it was not the first time the constable was accused of sexual assault. In 2016, following the findings of a similar report, the matter was handed over to the Guyana Police Force to be investigated but it was not pursued after his then accuser dropped the matter.

The matter was expected to go to full council at last Monday’s statutory meeting, but was deferred after the council spent time on other matters. It is expected to come up before the full council at the continuation of the statutory meeting tomorrow. Meanwhile, a video of the child recounting the encounter with the constable has been posted on Facebook, prompting questions about why the matter was not immediately transferred to Guyana Police Force to be investigated.

One concerned citizen, Don Singh, said that he was disappointed that the matter was not being treated with urgency or importance.

“Given the prevalence of paedophilia in society and the recent crying of the nation at our ignorance of Leonard Archibald’s cries, we once again seemingly would want to close our eyes and ears to something that’s in the heart of our capital city,” Singh said.

He also said that it was “appalling” that the Mayor and the council did not immediately report the case to the police.

It is unclear why the allegations were not forwarded to police, however, Stabroek News has learnt that the child was located by Blossom Inc., a nongovernmental organisation, and taken to to the Brickdam Police Station, where the matter was reported for investigation.

The boy has since been placed in the care of the Child Care and Protection Agency.