Compulsory police background checks should be carried out on anyone who wants to work with children, the head of a child protection charity said yesterday. Debi Ray-Rivers, the director of Saving Children and Revealing Secrets, said that police vetting should be a requirement for anyone involved with a “youth-serving organisation”. She added that the recent discovery of a court letter gi... Read more

A coalition of social services agencies has called for restorative justice in cases where young people are convicted of sexual offences. The Inter-Agency Committee for Children and Families said people convicted of sexual offences, particularly those aged under 18, needed to understand the harm they caused their victims and help to tackle the causes of the behaviour to prevent further offending... Read more

The Inter-Agency Committee for Children and Families has backed a call by Bermuda’s top police officer to tighten up the law to better protect schoolchildren from sexual predators — even if the youngsters are over the age of consent. The IAC said in a statement that updated legislation to better protect vulnerable children was an “urgent necessity”. The statement from the committee, ... Read more

A British child protection campaigner said last week she envied the progress made by a Bermudian child sex abuse prevention charity. Marilyn Hawes added that Saving Children and Revealing Secrets had “nailed it”. She was speaking after she met Scars founder Debi Ray-Rivers. Ms Hawes said: “I’m really privileged and proud to know Debi because what she’s achieving is awesome. �... Read more

The Bermuda Government does not believe there is a “gap in the law” that allows adults in positions of trust or authority to sexually exploit children aged over 16. Christine DaCosta, who was targeted by a teacher at Mount Saint Agnes Academy when she was 17, said there should be legislative change to close a loophole that allowed teachers, sports coaches and others who work with young peop... Read more

A teacher in Bermuda who had consensual sex with a pupil would not commit the offence of “sexual exploitation by a person in a position of trust or authority” if the child is aged 16 or over — unlike in Britain. It has been an offence there since 2001 for a person older than 18 in a specified “position of trust” to have sexual contact with anyone under the age of 18, even if the relat... Read more