THE mother of two boys, aged six and 12 years old, who were among seven children assaulted, is confident that justice will prevail and her sons’ perpetrator will face time for his crimes.

The alleged perpetrator, Sheridan Shepherd of a St Mary address, was charged on June 17, 2021 with buggering seven minors. He was charged with six counts of buggery, five counts of indecent assault, and one count of grievous sexual assault.

But almost eight months later there has been no conviction as the children are left to heal after one of their most fundamental rights as children – the right to protection from abuse as reflected in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms — was grossly violated, leaving them and their parents devastated.

“I am not aggravated. I think the law will prevail. Mi just a wait pon the justice because we know how these things go. I know the whole court situation. It takes a while. The only thing that gets me aggravated is when I go to court and see him. That is the only thing that gets me upset. It makes me feel dark inside,” the woman told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.

Shepherd will appear before a sitting of the Home Circuit Court in Port Maria on Wednesday, February 17.

Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police Dahlia Garrick, communications officer for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), told the Sunday Observer that Shepherd was remanded when he first went to court on June 24, 2021.

According to reports, a young girl who lives in Shepherd’s community made a report to her grandmother about Shepherd in June, which was followed by similar reports from the six other children. Immediately after, Shepherd was held and severely beaten by irate residents before police intervened.

Police sources told the Sunday Observer that Shepherd moved to the St Mary community in 2019 and, over time, developed a rapport with neighbours.

One such neighbour was the boys’ father, who esteemed Shepherd to be a good friend.

“Is a yute weh mi look out for enuh. Any likkle thing, mi give him. Mi carry him guh a work and dem things deh enuh man. Any likkle thing, him check mi and I try fi help him. Him shouldn’t touch my baby dem nuh time. Whether or not a my yute, dem tings deh nuh fi happen. And fi know seh the man a do dem things deh right under mi nose deh suh, an’ a gwan like seh him good,” the man said with an unmistiskable tone of dejection.

His sons underwent therapy and had their last session in early December. But speaking to the Sunday Observer about his therapy sessions, the 12-year-old boy expressed his reluctance about attending the appointments.

“I don’t like the counselling because I have to talk a lot, and I don’t like to talk,” he said with a laugh.

His mother, however, said the sessions played a huge part in her not being consumed by anger and frustration after learning of the incident.

“Everything is going smooth. It is just prayer over everything. God is our comforter, so we seek refuge in him,” she said.

“They spoke to us and gave us some peace of mind. We are coping alright. Just from the one statement the counsellor made, it changed the whole situation of me looking on it in a negative way. And after all, my kids… I have to protect them. Things will happen but mi just a try nuh mek history repeat itself,” she added.

She said the counsellor pointed out that “no child… no boy child wants to tell their mother they were molested by a man”.

The woman added: “So, I started looking at things differently. That’s how I got over that part.”

She offered a word of advice to parents who may be in similar, unfortunate situations with abused children, and are struggling internally with self-blame and self-resentment.

“It is not a blame thing. I was blaming myself at one point but then, I get past that and get to understand that no matter how close yuh be, and no matter how you shield them, some things will happen that you never saw coming,” she told the Sunday Observer.

“Things do happen. Even when we have the closest eye on the kids, things happen. And we cannot blame ourselves. We have to just put out the effort and know that we are the parents, and we are the one who are supposed to protect them. And parents need to talk to their children and open up more to them so they can have an open relationship. Not all children will speak out, but more will speak. It depends on the relationship you have with the child,” she advised.