Counselling being provided following alleged sexual assault of 6-y-o girl by 11-y-o boy at Jessie Ripoll - CPFSA

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) says it is deeply disturbed by the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old girl by an 11-year-old boy at the Jessie Ripoll Primary School in St Andrew.

CPFSA says its investigations into the alleged incident, which reportedly occurred on Tuesday, March 11, showed that the schoolboy allegedly pulled the schoolgirl into an empty classroom after school, where she was allegedly assaulted.

Following the report of the incident, the CPFSA launched an investigation into the matter on Wednesday, March 12 and spoke with both children involved, as well as their parents.

The agency says the girl was then referred to the Ministry of Justice’s Victim’s Services Division for counselling/psychological support while the 11-year-old child was referred to the Child Guidance Clinic at the University of the West Indies for psychological intervention.

“We are deeply troubled by this incident, as school should be looked at as a safe haven for students, and not one where they should be vulnerable to being sexually abused, especially not by their fellow students,” said CPFSA CEO Laurette Adams-Thomas.

“As soon as this incident was brought to our attention at the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse on Wednesday, March 12, we launched our own investigation into the matter to see how best we could intervene in the best interest of both children involved. The young victim has been referred to the Ministry of Justice’s Victims Services Division for counselling, which has already begun,” she continued.

“The older child was also referred to the Child Guidance Clinic for psychological intervention,” she said while noting that the 11-year-old boy had not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility.

Under the law in Jamaica, no person under age 12 can be held responsible for a crime.

“The CPFSA is continuing its investigations into this incident, and we will be doing home visits as well as community assessments for both children. We will also be doing a visit to the school to obtain further information to aid in our investigation,” the CPFSA CEO concluded.

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