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. . .”