Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison says allegations that a man sexually molested his five-year-old sister had left her and her colleagues rattled.

Meanwhile, a manhunt launched for the 29-year-old man intensified yesterday.

“The news shook us because, even though we have heard of cases like this before, you never get used to this because it is really not supposed to happen — and so, where we are at now, we have taken an active interest in the matter,” she said.

Gordon Harrison told the Jamaica Observer that her office has been in touch with the mother now grappling with allegations that her adult son had preyed on his little sister.

The man’s two-year-old niece, whom family members initially feared he had also molested, is now in hospital under observation.

“We are at this point focusing on the children who are at the heart of this matter. We, of course, are willing to and have an interest in supporting whatever process has to unfold. I know, for example, CISOCA (Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse) is actively involved because this is a criminal matter, and that means that at some stage these two young girls — particularly the five-year-old — will have to go through the criminal justice process. We are talking about accountability in relation to the accused,” said Gordon Harrison.

“And so, in matters of this nature, the Office of the Children’s Advocate will play a very critical role. We have legal officers who will certainly be attending court during the duration of this matter, once it gets to that stage. And, for the pre-court stage, we will continue to interact with the family and the children to see how best we can continue to support their healing — because when something like this happens it is not just physical healing that comes into question but, for instance, the emotional side of it,” added Gordon Harrison who is herself a lawyer.

The family has been ripped apart by the allegations. On Monday the mother of both the young victim and the accused wished for her son’s death.

“What mi wud like fi see happen is fi see him dead. Mi baby ah five year old ah suffer inna hospital. She ah feel pain eena har chest and her upper body,” she said at a hospital in western Jamaica late that evening.

While doing laundry, she related, she noticed slime on her daughter’s underwear and asked the five-year-old for an explanation. The child, she said, told her that her brother had touched her with his finger. The mother said she confronted her son who claimed nothing had happened. The incident was reported to the police and CISOCA.

“Her maiden gone, she have infection, and him mash her up,” said the mother in a hard-to-watch video outlining the incident.

According to head of the constabulary’s Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, their search continues for the 29-year-old man. His relatives also launched a manhunt of their own on Tuesday which saw them journeying to other sections in and outside of the parish where the incident occurred. At one location, they were told he had been there but had left.

“The police dem nuh moving up so wi haffi do the search, because dem not sending the kids dem out if dem nuh catch him,” said the mother of both parties.

She said relatives had called the police after detaining the accused about noon last Thursday. Bedevilled by transportation issues, she said lawmen did not arrive until about six hours later. By then, the alleged child molester had escaped.

“It look like him suspect because him brother drop asleep and him jump the fence and gone,” the woman said.