JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA), the agency mandated to safeguard the rights and well being of children in Jamaica, is reporting a disturbing development in the church – that of reports of sexual abuse against children by senior members of the clergy.

“We have received reports in relation to deacons, elders and prayer warriors,” Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison told The Gleaner yesterday.

Asked what steps are being made by the OCA to crack down on the perpetrators of these alleged sexual crimes, Gordon Harrison said once the report seems credible and warrants an investigation, her agency conducts a probe.

However, the children’s advocate indicated that her office required alleged victims to submit recorded statements and such individuals are not willing to go all the way.

“The challenge that we have sometimes is that if you have people who are willing to disclose things…