By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A CHILD rights activist has pointed to the United States, where Child Advocacy Centres let young sex abuse victims give their account once in a child-friendly setting and trained professionals share the testimony across agencies, as an example of protections missing in The Bahamas, where children are often forced to relive their trauma repeatedly before trial.

Attorney and activist Tavarrie Smith said the country’s current system retraumatises victims, with children sometimes recounting their ordeal to a parent, police, doctors, the Ministry of Social Services and prosecutors before testifying again in court.

“The truth of the matter is, to protect the integrity of the entire process, we need to move our sexual matters quicker through the court,” he said. “We need to secure the oral evidence of the victim. We need to secure the medical and forensic evidence as quickly as possible.”

Mr Smith warned the repeated questioning leaves children vulnerable during cross-examination, since they naturally recall different details each time — inconsistencies that defence attorneys can exploit.

His call for reform came as the Bahamas Crisis Centre revealed that 180 children, aged two to 17, were referred for sexual assault in the past 11 months. Referrals came through the Ministry of Health, the police Sexual Offences Unit, hotline calls and walk-ins.

Crisis Centre director Dr Sandra Dean Patterson said the surge is straining social services and the courts. She blasted years-long delays in child abuse cases, calling it “unacceptable” that victims wait three to five years for trials to begin.

She urged reforms to create a more “children-friendly” justice process, including strict timelines for when testimony is required and fewer retellings of traumatic experiences.

Mr Smith credited the police Sexual Offences Unit for charging more offenders and bringing in more suspects for questioning. Still, he said many witnesses withdraw as cases drag on. “In a lot of cases witnesses don’t want to testify because during the delay of a case a person may become discouraged,” he said.

When contacted, Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier said she could not confirm how many of the Crisis Centre’s referrals led to charges, since the centre did not specify which cases came directly from police. She said she would be reaching out to the centre for clarification.

Ms Frazier stressed that while delays can arise from various factors, her office remains committed to prosecuting sex crimes.