HELLISH ORDEAL

Although relieved that the man accused of raping her 12-year-old daughter at gunpoint on Mother’s Day has met his demise, a St Catherine mother is harbouring fears that with the pre-teen exhibiting signs of pregnancy and battling a sexually transmitted infection (STI), the painful ordeal is not yet over.

Three months after the alleged incident on May 9, the body of the 23-year-old suspect, Davian Linton, also known as ‘Chatbout’ or ‘Ice’, who had been on the run, was found in Portmore, St Catherine, on Sunday morning after the police were alerted by residents when explosions were heard in a section of the municipality. His killer remains unknown.

According to the mother of the victim, alarm bells first went off that something was not right when her daughter – her only daughter and the youngest of four children – sent her a text message on Friday, May 14.

“She not telling me nothing,” said the mother after recalling the moments of initially trying to reach out to her daughter, who refused to reveal what was bothering her, only repeating the phrase “Mommy, yuh nuh understand”.

Suffered a minor stroke

It was upon overhearing a conversation by a family member two days later that she then realised that all the other members in the household seemed to have been aware of the incident, but when she pressed for details of what had occurred, she was stonewalled.

In a fit of anger and frustration, the mother suffered a minor stroke days later and was admitted to hospital. It was after her release on May 17 that her daughter informed her of the assault.

Inspector ShaunJaye Mitchell of the police’s communications arm stressed yesterday that persons with knowledge of the alleged rape of the pre-teen who failed to report the incident to the police could be liable for prosecution under the Child Care and Protection Act.

It is said that Linton reportedly entered the yard and held the pre-teen against a fence in her yard that night, after her mother, who was going to work, had asked her to fetch her handbag. He allegedly threatened to kill her and her family if she tried to alert anyone as he proceeded to rape her.

A relative later confessed to the mother that he had seen someone in the yard that night, but thought it was the young girl’s boyfriend who had visited.

The incident was then reported to the police and the pre-teen and her mother waited fearfully as they anticipated the capture of the suspect by the police.

“Every day me watch news and dem catch all the rapist dem, so how them cah catch him?” the mother asked in an initial interview with The Gleaner last week, adding that the suspect, who had previously warned her daughter to “watch herself”, was freely roaming the community.

News on Sunday that the man who was accused of robbing her daughter of her innocence was now dead brought her some relief.

“I thank the Lord I am not afraid for my daughter anymore,” she told The Gleaner yesterday, revealing that she had also relocated outside of the community.

She had worried that the incident would have affected her daughter’s preparations for the Primary Exit Profile examinations, but she performed satisfactorily, although she underperformed in the ability test.

“I just leave everything behind me and say ‘come, we not going back there’,” shared the mother, noting that she has distanced herself from family members there and vacated the community.

“A just suicide come to me...because she’s suffering,” added the distraught mom.

Apart from the STI, the 12-year-old is also experiencing abdominal pains and occasional bleeding. Her mother noted that she has also not been eating, as she mostly sleeps.

Anxious to know if the young girl is pregnant, the mother explained that she would prefer to get the results from an ultrasound than one of those at-home pregnancy kits.

“A better me carry her guh doctor and the doctor tell me seh she nuh pregnant,” she said, as she expressed how devastating the situation has been as worry plagues them.

Uncertain of how she will work, raise a child and possibly a grandchild with no secured place to stay and no financial help from the child’s father, the mother hopes that the test results will report no baby after consultation with the doctor this Thursday.

The woman is also worried that when face-to-face classes resume, her daughter will have to travel on a bus that members from the community travel on to go to school, exposing her to further possible trauma.

No counselling

Despite the painful ordeal, the family has not been receiving counselling, as the mother claims that she missed an initial call from a counsellor assigned by the Victim Service Division (VSD) of the Ministry of Justice, which is tasked with providing healing and therapeutic intervention to victims of crime islandwide.

When she returned the call, the counsellor reportedly said that she was busy at the moment and no further contact has been made.

Contacted yesterday, the VSD said that it was not aware of the lack of counselling sessions with the family and promised to look into the matter.

Child psychologist and family therapist Dr Orlean Brown Earle noted that there are times when the impact of a sexual abuse incident of a child will not only affect the victim but also their family members, especially parents. She urged that these secondary victims must also be a part of the treatment process.

Victims may experience various kinds of mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. As such, Brown Earle says a social inquiry report is necessary, to be reviewed by the therapist or psychologist, as this will guide them in which treatment will work best.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all,” she said, noting that each case was unique.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com