We Have Failed Our Children.

So. Here’s the truth: we have a serious problem. What follows is a list pulled from stories posted by The Nassau Guardian’s incredibly experienced and talented court reporter Artesia Davis. Brace yourself.

• A 40-year-old man of New Providence was on Tuesday remanded to prison on child molestation charges. Prosecutors allege the man, whose name has been withheld, sexually abused his stepdaughter from January 2021 to 2023 (story)
• A 62-year-old man accused of raping and indecently assaulting a 71-year-old woman was on Monday remanded to prison. Prosecutors allege that Austin Williams committed the crimes on September 8 in New Providence (story).
• A 59-year-old deacon was on Friday sentenced to two decades in prison for molesting a 10-year-old girl. The man, who has not been named to protect the child’s identity, has maintained his innocence in the face of the nine-member jury’s unanimous guilty verdicts. He was convicted of two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a dependent on May 9. The victim was living in New Providence with the convict and his wife, her maternal aunt, following her mother’s death. In January and February 2023, the convict, then 56, anally raped the child on three separate occasions in his bedroom while his wife, who has limited mobility due to a stroke, was in another room. He was arrested after a school’s guidance counselor alerted authorities (story).
• A 38-year-old man accused of raping and murdering schoolgirl Adriel Moxey is set to stand trial next year. The 12-year-old student at Anatol Rodgers High School was found dead in bushes on November 20, 2024, two days after she failed to return home from school. Her accused killer, Chris Tyrone Ferguson, has denied charges of murder, forcible detention and unlawful sexual intercourse in connection to her death (story).
• A Supreme Court jury on Wednesday unanimously convicted a man of forcing two children to have sex. Danis Cezalien did not show any emotion as the jury forewoman said he was guilty of two counts of cruelty to children after the nine-member panel deliberated for an hour (story).
• A 58-year-old father who molested his daughter was on Monday sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment after he accepted the terms of a plea deal. The father, whose name has been withheld to protect the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty to five counts of incest when he appeared before Justice Renae McKay (story).
• A 54-year-old man was on Thursday jailed for 12 years after he admitted to sex crimes against a minor. Tonie Brown received the sentence when he accepted a plea deal during an appearance before Justice Renae McKay. He pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse. The charges stem from incidents that took place in September 2023 in New Providence when the victim was 12-years-old, and in August 2024 when she was 13 (story).
• Three people have been charged and police are looking for three other suspects after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped last week. Charlton Curtis, 23, Henrico McPhee, 18, and a 15-year-old boy faced charges of forcible taking and having unlawful sexual intercourse when they made their initial court appearance before Senior Magistrate Algernon Allen Jr. on Wednesday (story).
• A 61-year-old former welder admitted to molesting his nine-year-old granddaughter on Tuesday. The man has not been named to protect the identity of his victim. He pleaded guilty to one count of incest when he appeared before Justice Renae McKay (story).
•  A Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) drill instructor was on Tuesday charged with abusing participants of the rangers summer camp in Eleuthera. Marine Seaman Yashua Cox, 26, of Millers Heights, faced charges of cruelty to children and indecent assault when he made his initial court appearance before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans. Prosecutors allege that Cox terrorized the seven young boys, aged 11 through 18, by slugging them, making them masturbate, depriving them of sleep and forcing them to drink water from the toilet. He’s also accused of simulating a sex act on a fully-clothed 16-year-old boy and pulling down a 15-year-old boy’s pants and spanking his bare bottom (story).
•  A former political candidate was on Thursday unanimously convicted of molesting an underage boy. Marlin Newton, 51, who previously ran on the Democratic National Alliance ticket, showed no emotion after the jury of six women and three men announced their verdict after an hour of deliberations (story).
• The former administrator of the Elizabeth Estates Children’s Home accused of molesting a teenage ward is expected to be tried next year. Ray Nairn received a July 6, 2026 trial date when he appeared before Justice Renae McKay yesterday. Nairn, who’s on bail, faces charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a dependent, attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a dependent, indecent assault and cruelty to children. Prosecutors allege that Nairn started molesting the 17-year-old girl in January 2024. From January 12 to June 31, Nairn allegedly indecently assaulted the teen (story).

Firstly, the above list is just the stories from the beginning of August to the end of the second week of September 2025. Seven weeks of news reports. Let that marinate for a moment.

No doubt those of us who read the commentary by Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson recently felt a jolt, a convulsion of our souls at the horrifying report that 180 children were referred to the Bahamas Crisis Centre for being sexually abused over the last 11 months (story). Dr. Dean-Patterson, a warrior in the war against sexual and domestic violence in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is the long-standing Director of the Crisis Centre, and speaks from a platform of almost unassailable authority when she says these numbers are “very upsetting.”

According to Dr. Dean-Patterson, 180 children between the ages of two and 17 have been referred for being sexually assaulted, molested over this last 11-month period.

Consider that number. 180 children. If we turn to high school mathematics, that averages 16 children every month since October 2024 who have been referred to the centre. That’s four children every week. For 11 months. And that is only the children who have been referred to the centre.

Some information to place these numbers in context: globally, child sexual abuse is heavily underreported — research across regions shows that only a fraction of cases ever come to the attention of authorities. Here’s what the data suggests:

• WHO & UNICEF estimates: Fewer than 1 in 10 cases of child sexual abuse are ever officially reported.
• Research consensus: Studies commonly cite that for every case reported, 10–13 remain hidden (a ratio of about 1:10–1:13).
• High-income countries: Reporting rates are somewhat higher but still very low, often 15–20% of actual cases.
• Low- and middle-income countries: Even fewer cases are reported, sometimes below 5%, due to stigma, fear, and lack of child protection systems. 
• In short: the accepted global ratio is that only about 10% (or less) of child sexual abuse is reported, meaning the real prevalence is about 10 times higher than official numbers.

Pereira, A., Peterman, A., Neijhoft, A.N. et al say, in the 2019 article, “Disclosure, reporting and help seeking among child survivors of violence: a cross-country analysis” (article), that the prevalence of help-seeking behaviours ranged from 23 to 54% for informal disclosure, 16 to 28% for knowledge of where to seek formal help, under 1 to 25% for formal disclosure or help seeking, and 1 to 11% for receipt of formal help.

Of interest to me in this article, the authors note that among the factors consistently correlated with reduced help-seeking behaviours were being male and living in a female-headed household. One wonders what the research specifically in The Bahamas might reveal.

The authors conclude that, across countries examined, help-seeking and receipt of formal services is low for children experiencing physical and/or sexual violence, with few consistent factors identified which facilitated help-seeking.

I am not offering a scientific study of the issue, however. I am not qualified for something like that, nor do I believe the science would fail to demonstrate what our souls already know, what we already feel in our bones. Our children are the victims of predators. They have been being preyed upon for ages. We have known about it in our families, our communities, our islands. And we have done next to nothing to protect them.

A short while ago, a friend of mine was recounting a story from their time as a Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate in The Bahamas. [For reference, an S&C Magistrate is a professional, salaried ("stipendiary") judge of the Magistrates’ Court with authority to sit in different districts (“circuits”) to hear both criminal and civil matters within the court’s jurisdiction.] My friend was recounting the following incident:

Following a court day on an island (which I will not name, as it doesn’t matter), my friend was approached by a woman who begged for my friend’s help. Upon being prompted, the woman reported that a teacher in the local school was molesting girls in his class by making them sit on his lap in exchange for a lollipop. Further prompting revealed that the man had been doing this for years: so long that it spanned generations on the island. When asked, the woman said the local police did nothing with the report. The woman flatly declined to make a complaint herself to my friend, and when told that the police are unable to act without a complaint, the woman left, weeping. My friend was unable to help that woman. Or the children the man molested.

This story infuriated me and has stuck with me ever since. The grim reality in The Bahamas, in my view, is that we have a culture that shields incest and sexual violence against children for a plethora of reasons, none of which matter. Why we are protecting those who prey on our children is irrelevant. That we are is what matters.

Since it has become clear that the community will not act to save these children, that leaves the police to do it for them. And I have long heard people make the supposed case that the police cannot act without a complaint – even from some police officers themselves! This is untrue. Here are the facts [NB: all the emphasis is my own]:

·     Under the Sexual Offences Act (Ch. 99) of The Bahamas, offences like rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, incest, and other forms of sexual abuse of minors are serious criminal offences. These are considered offences against public justice and society, not just against the individual child. As such, the state (through the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions) can initiate investigations and prosecutions whether or not a formal complaint is filed by the child or their guardian.

·     Mandatory reporting applies. Under Bahamian law, certain professionals (teachers, doctors, social workers, etc.) are legally obligated to report suspected child abuse, including sexual abuse, to the authorities. Failure to report can itself be an offence.

·     Police can act without a victim’s complaint. If police receive information — from a third party, a mandatory reporter, or through their own observations — they are empowered to investigate immediately. This ensures that vulnerable children are protected, even if they are too young, afraid, or unable to come forward.

In other words, sexual violence against children in The Bahamas is a serious criminal offence, not a complaint-driven one. Police and prosecutors can act on any credible report or evidence, regardless of whether the child (or even the parents) formally files a complaint.

So the question then becomes the threshold for “any credible report or evidence”. The answer, according to the law, is that police do not need full evidence to begin an investigation. What they need is a credible report, tip, or suspicion — something that reasonably suggests that a crime may have occurred.

For example:

• A teacher reports that a child disclosed abuse.
• A doctor sees medical signs consistent with sexual assault.
• A neighbour calls the police after witnessing suspicious behaviour.

Any of these are enough to trigger an investigation.

Once a report is made, police then collect evidence: medical examinations, interviews, witness statements, digital evidence, etc. The standard at this stage is reasonable suspicion — far lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard needed to convict in court.

Because children are vulnerable, Bahamian law (through the Child Protection Act and the Sexual Offences Act) expects authorities to err on the side of protection. Police are empowered to investigate as soon as there is a disclosure or suspicion, even if the child cannot give a detailed statement or the parent is reluctant. Mandatory reporters (teachers, doctors, etc.) are legally required to pass suspicions along — so the police can act immediately.

So the truth is that police in The Bahamas need a credible report or suspicion — not hard evidence — to investigate sexual violence against children. The evidence is what the investigation seeks to uncover.

What does all this mean? What am I saying?

It is simple. The community has failed our children. We have left them vulnerable to sexual predators en masse and seem disinclined as a community to do anything to stop it. Therefore, the police must act.

Simple. But not easy.

Because the police are part of this community. Many among them will have the same vulnerabilities the rest of us do: they may be related to the predators, or they may share family or friends. They may go to church with them, or be in the lodge with them, or on the community baseball team, or in the Junkanoo group with them.

All of that is true, but again, irrelevant. The police must act. Why?

The Police Service Act 2009 (and earlier Police Acts) require that every police officer, upon appointment, take and subscribe to an oath of office. That oath includes a promise to keep and preserve peace and prevent offences against the peace.

They swore an oath. I know that may appear to mean little, given the reports and rumours abounding about how our police operate, but sweet lord, we have to start somewhere!

Minister of Social Services Myles LaRoda recently said that many of the cases involve family members. Mr. LaRoda said that some cases, people decline to come forward and testify, which causes cases to collapse. “When the public as a whole is prepared to give evidence against a brother, a father or an uncle, then we would know that the public is really serious about dealing with the scourge,” he said.

So there we have it. The police must act. The public must do its part. Otherwise, our children will continue to be prey for the sexual predators we call friends and family.