St. Lca: Six year old has sex for bread

Does anything in St. Lucia work like it should? It seems that in addition to the courts, Social Services are also in need of a drastic overhaul to get the workers taking care of business.

The Monday after Candace arrived at Janelle's, the two six-year-olds were dropped off by Jane at an uncle's house. Jane usually spent her days at her uncle's while her parents are at work.

On that particular occasion, the uncle had to run off on an emergency errand, leaving the children at home alone. He returned a short time later and noticed the house was unusually quiet. The doors and the windows were locked.

He slipped his key into the lock and quietly pushed open the door. A quick search revealed the two six-year-olds naked in bed. Janelle was lying on her back. Candace lay on top of Janelle, "whining." A roll of toilet paper lay next to the two.

Furious, the uncle whipped Candace and decided to take her straight home. As they drove to town he asked Candace where she learned to do what he had caught her doing‚ and with a roll of toilet paper too!

Jane shook her head in disbelief as she recalled the moment: "She said some guys near her home make her do it, including her brother. Sometimes, they give her bread. My brother took her to Social Services but found out that Candace already had a case there."

Deeply troubled, that very night, Janelle's parents visited Candace's mother.

"But Candace's mother didn't seem to be bothered," Jane said. "She laughed about it and stressed that the child was lying. She said she had whipped Candace for saying so.

"I spoke to a police friend because we considered taking the child in for a while, but he explained that the most we could do at this point was to file a case; that we could not take the child without parental consent.

"Basically, we have just about given up because a case has already been filed at Social Services and they haven't done anything."

What was even more heartrending, Jane said, was Candace's innocence.

"It's amazing the way she spoke about it when we asked," said Jane. "She is being sexually abused but she is still too young to realize it is wrong. She spoke so openly about it."

By all appearances, Candace's isn't the only case that has been put on the back burner‚ seemingly indefinitely.