2 Juveniles Charged With Serious Sexual Offences

Two juveniles, aged 15 and 17 respectively, were charged with serious sexual offences alongside 20 people, new data from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) reveals.

A 15-year-old boy was charged with the rape of a seven-year-old boy while a 17-year-old boy was charged with the rape of a five-year-old girl.

There were four alleged incidents where the victims and the accused were related.

There was one incident where a 21-year-old man was charged with the rape and murder of a 65-year-old woman.

A 47-year-old pastor of the Agape Healing Ministry was charged with the rape of two members of his congregation.

The data is authorised for re­lease by the ODPP and relates to the number of formal indictments (Information) filed in the High Courts of Fiji by the Director of Public Prosecutions throughout the month. This data is confined to alleged incidents of serious sexual offences only.

There were 20 people charged with a total of 57 counts of separate alleged incidents in April. The al­leged offences were rape (34), at­tempted rape (2), indecent assault (3), defilement (3) and sexual as­sault (15).

There were 21 victims of whom 13 victims were under the age of 18 years. Of the 21 victims, two were male and 19 were female victims.

Of the 20 people charged, one was a Police officer. The Police officer was charged with the attempted rape and the rape of a 17-year-old girl. There were four alleged inci­dents where the victims and the ac­cused were related.

A 53-year-old man was charged with the rape, attempted rape and sexual assault of his 12-year-old granddaughter.

In a separate alleged incident, a 43-year-old man was charged with the rape and attempted rape of his 15-year-old daughter.

There was one alleged incident where a 48-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault of his 10-year-old niece while a 20-year-old man was charged with the rape of his 15-year old cousin.

There was one alleged incident where a 21-year-old man was charged with the rape and mur­der of a 65-year-old woman. The accused is also charged with bur­glary and theft. The accused and victim were neighbours. (NB: The offences of murder, burglary and theft are recorded separately).

A 47-year-old pastor of the Agape Healing Ministry was charged with the rape of two members of his congregation. The accused al­legedly used traditional healing treatments to induce consent from the two victims.

In another alleged incident, a 36-year-old church youth group leader was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old boy. The victim and the accused were members of the same church.

A 42-year-old man was charged with the rape of his 28-year-old girlfriend while a 49-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of his 15-year-old tenant.

In another alleged incident, a 61-year-old man was charged with the rape of a 10-year-old girl. The accused and victim were neigh­bours.

There was one alleged incident where a 74-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of a 31-year-old woman who is diagnosed with “unspecified mental retardation.”

There was one alleged incident where a 19-year-old man was charged with the defilement of a 15-year-old girl who fell pregnant after the alleged incident.

One case was withdrawn after a discontinuance (Nolle Prosequi) was filed. A 60-year-old man was charged with the rape of a 6-year-old girl, however, the matter was discontinued due to the accused person suffering from dementia and being diagnosed as unfit to stand trial.

Refer to the table above entitled ODPP Rape and Sexual Offences April 2019 for a break-down of these statistics.

Source: ODPP Fiji

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