Sexual offence cases involving child victims are disturbingly being committed by a relative who has been brainwashed, says.Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho.

He made the comment while opening the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Sexual Investigations Training in Suva yesterday.

Brigadier-General Qiliho said people who committed such crimes were being brainwashed from seeing the child as their own blood, but rather as a person who has the means to satisfy their sexual needs.

“These are crimes that grab headlines and get people talking because it breaches all grounds of moral behaviour,” he said.

“You and I know that majority of these cases are happening behind closed doors and in what is supposed to be ‘safe zones’.

“Some in law enforcement may argue that it is out of our control because majority of the cases involve family members and we cannot see what is happening inside their homes.

“Personally, I believe more can be done and that a lot can be learnt within any 48-hour detainment period and we can channel information gathered from the questioning process towards our ‘white glove’ approach in creating awareness.

“Victims of sexual crimes sadly have to relive the nightmare of their ordeal over and over again and I ask that you utilise every opportunity to learn from each other to improve on our ability to address sexual crimes and prevent more innocent people from becoming victims.”

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) statistics for the month of March showed there were 28 people charged with a total of 58 counts of sex offences in separate incidents.

“The offences were rape (36), abduction with intent to have carnal knowledge (1), attempted defilement (1) and sexual assault (20),” the ODPP said in a statement.

“There were 15 incidents where the victims and the accused were related to one another.”

Edited by Epineri Vula

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