A 27-year-old man will spend ten years behind bars for sexual offences against a ten-year-old schoolgirl. William Smith was found guilty of unlawful carnal knowledge, attempted unlawful carnal knowledge and two counts of sexual exploitation of a young person by a person in a position of trust. Acting Puisne Judge Craig Attridge told Smith, from Warwick, he had “traumatised” the girl for ... Read more
Call for action on sexual grooming
The Royal Gazette | January 23, 2020
More work has to be done to prevent the “grooming” of children by sex offenders, a charity has warned. Debi Ray-Rivers, the founder of child protection agency Saving Children and Revealing Secrets, said more people needed to be aware of the danger signals that a child was being groomed for sexual abuse. Ms Ray-Rivers said: “The adults in the community have to watch for behaviour from o... Read more
Scars certifies 10,000th child advocate
The Royal Gazette | January 20, 2020
A charity dedicated to halting the sexual abuse of children crossed a landmark when it certified its 10,000th child advocate. Debi Ray-Rivers, the founder of Saving Children And Revealing Secrets, said that milestone, achieved on Saturday, reflected progress made on the issue by the Bermuda community. Ms Ray-Rivers said: “It’s a testament to our community, to our people, because we are n... Read more
Every child deserves to be protected and safe
The Royal Gazette | December 12, 2019
What does every child who is brought into this world need and deserve? Every child needs unconditional love and protection, provided by those who brought them into this world. Parenting can be one of the most difficult but most rewarding responsibilities we will encounter in life and it requires education of parents and guardians so they have a substantive appreciation of what parenting enta... Read more
Scars calls for background checks
The Royal Gazette | December 5, 2019
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
Young sex offenders must address their behaviour
The Royal Gazette | November 26, 2019
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