TWO Opposition Parliamentarians have asked the Government to state what steps are being taken, in terms of recent reports that a young man was sexually assaulted while in the custody of the Oracabessa police in St Mary.

Opposition Spokesperson on Youth, Sports, Gender Affairs, Entertainment and Culture, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, suggested that the Ministry of Youth and Culture demand an explanation from the Ministry of National Security and the Commissioner of Police, on why the young man was placed in a cell with a man being questioned on buggery charges.

"Some explanation has to be given to the Parliament and the people, and I am not going to let this one go, because I believe in the view that it takes a village to raise a child, and if this is how agents of the state are going to treat our children, then it is probably no wonder that they are becoming increasingly suicidal and intent on murder," Grange said in her sectoral debate presentation last Tuesday.

In a series of question tabled in the Senate on Friday, Opposition Senator Robert Montague asked what steps were being taken to prevent a recurrence of such incidents at Oracabessa, or any other lock-up.

He also asked the Government to state what steps are being taken to get medical help and counselling for the young man, as well as its position on children being detained in adult institutions.

The Jamaica Observer understands that since the incident, 36-year-old Anthony Linton was sentenced to 12 years in prison for two counts of buggery and one count of grievous sexual assault in St Mary.

Hylton was sentenced in the St Mary Resident Magistrate's Court on July 13, after being found guilty of buggering a 10-yr-old boy in the parish over a period of time. During his incarceration at the Oracabessa Police lock-up, he also used a knife to threaten the 21-yr-old male cellmate who was being held for simple larceny and buggered him repeatedly.

He was handed a 12-year sentence for buggering the minor, 10 years for buggering his cellmate, and another seven years for the grievous sexual assault on the 21-yr-old. However, he will serve the sentence concurrently and will only serve 12 years.