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Assistant Commissioner of Police, Richard Browne. (iWN file photo)
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Richard Browne. (iWN file photo)
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A senior police officer is being called upon to “walk back” a comment he made on Wednesday about puberty-related hormones and a lack of parental guidance causing girls under the age of 13 to fall victims to unlawful sex.

“This is absolutely appalling and I could only put it down to a kind of male acceptance that we have in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and it starts from the head,” opposition lawmaker Sen. Kay Bacchus-Baptiste said in response to the police officer’s comment.

At the launch of the Sexual Offences Unit of the Police Force on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime-fighting, Richard Browne, said St. Vincent and the Grenadines is seeing an increase in reports of sex crimes.

He was asked whether these cases were statutory rape, incest, or rape.

Browne said:

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“I would just say that most of the offences that we have on our books now are offences of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 and we know that those  — I can’t find the right word right now, the word is in my head, but I can’t find it. The hormones then that work in the young ladies and the lack of guidance as well in the homes is part of our problem.

“We are going to try our best not only to investigate but to inform the public, to try and reach schools, talk to the children in the school, try to educate them along these lines. Some may say sexual education. But we are going to try our best to reduce those incidents of unlawful sexual intercourse with girls under the age of 13.”

KAy Bacchus Baptiste
Opposition Senator Kay Bacchus-Baptiste. (iWN file photo)

Speaking Friday on New Times, her New Democratic Party’s radio programme on NICE Radio, Bacchus-Baptiste said Browne must have misspoken when he made the comment.

Bacchus-Baptiste, a lawyer, said:

“There is a sort of pervasiveness in the society and an acceptance of these sexual offences against women that you can blame the woman and I think Richard misspoke.

“I am going to give him that. He could not, as a senior police officer, in his head, give as the number one reason, the first thing that came to his mind when asked by a reporter in a news conference that he knew he was at, knowing the topic that was to be discussed, obviously he was unprepared and the first thing that would come to his head that it is the hormones of the young girls that can cause these sexual offences? It is appalling and I really think he has to walk this comment back. We have to call upon him to walk it back.”

The senator said that the senior police officer should amend the statement without being asked.

“In fact, he shouldn’t have to be asked. He should just do it on his own, because I am going to say that he misspoke, that he was unprepared, and psychologically, he has said something that most men would probably be thinking, and what he has probably done is expose the demon in this whole affair that you blame the woman. We cannot take this lightly.”

The nine-member Sexual Offences Unit will investigate reports of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 and sex crimes against visitors.

Offences such as unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl 13 years old but less than 15 will continue to be investigated by police officers in the districts where they occur.

The Sexual Offences Unit is based at the Questelles Police Station and can be reached at telephone number +1-784-456-1750.

12 replies on “Senior cop called upon to ‘walk back’ comment about sex victim’s hormone”

  1. There is a sexual revolution in progress in the land. When adults have to complain to institutions about the threats teenage girls are conscientiously creating in their relationships with their adult fiance, we know that underage girls are very capable of instigating and perpetrating many of the sexual encounters of the day. The times…yes, they are a changing.

  2. I wondered how long it would be before someone commented on this. Thank you Ms Bacchus-Baptiste.
    First, I am appalled at what the officer said. However, I am not as forgiving as you are. I don’t believe he misspoke. I believe he meant every word, for such is, and has been the prevailing attitude in SVG. There is no difference in the behaviours or expressions whether these men are in leadership positions or not.
    Mr. Browne is putting the “hormone blame” in the wrong place. The blame belongs squarely on the men who commit these crimes. Just in case the officer is ignorant of this fact, let me try to educate him. Men do have hormones, the same ones that cause them to be sexually aroused by the mere sight of anything they think is female, and not necessarily limited to the human species. Mr. Browne, stop blaming and victim shaming these women and young girls. Call on the men who commit these crimes to change their behaviours. Prosecute these crimes, punish those who are convicted, and stop denigrating women. The next sexual assault or rape victim may be your own daughter or sister. Would you then have the same thoughts? Would you then blame their hormones or the men who assaulted them?
    Second, Where is the outrage by the women in the SVG society? Hardly anything is being said about this. Women have blamed each other for so long that the attitude has become the norm in this society. Perhaps that in some way explains the officer’s pronouncement, though it does not excuse it. We are now about 4 decades into independence of our nation, have we not progressed beyond the mentally of several centuries ago when women existed as the property of men to be used as they saw fit? Citizens of SVG, wake up and cast off those burdens, educate yourselves and treat each other with decency and respect. Parlay the political independence into moral and social independence. Until we do that we remain second class citizens in our own country, dependent on the largesse of others who see us merely as fools chained to the mentality of bygone centuries.

  3. Methinks that, as usual, Ms. Bacchus-Baptiste, is deliberately misinterpreting the remarks of a government representative to score a cheap political point or two.

    As I said in another comment, Mr. Browne was correct to imply that girls are reaching the age of menarche (first menstruation) earlier all the time (largely because of a high fat diet) which often makes them an eager participant in sexual relations even though they are too emotionally and intellectually immature to do so. Indeed, many such girls are the instigators of sexual relations with boys their own age (or even younger) and are easily enticed to have sex with someone much older, in which case the older boy or man should still be punished to the full extent of the law even if the girl has been sexually active in the past.

    These are facts.

    It is also a fact that in America a lot of teenage pregnancy among girls of 13-15 results from sex with boys younger than them, perhaps because the girls believe that this would decrease their chances of getting pregnant.

    In my own investigations about initiation into sex, many men said that their first encounters, often in the school toilet, was with older girls. These boys had not yert reached puberty but could still get a stand (erection).

    My personal experience involves being enticed to have sex with two different 12-year-old girls when I was in my twenties. This was over 50 years ago when hardly anyone was charged for sexual assault. I declined because I was already in a relation with a woman my own age. Would I have declined had I not already had an outlet for my raging hormones? I hope so but cannot be certain.

    Again, sex with immature girls is rightly prohibited and should be severely punished without exception. But Mr. Browne said nothing that is not true. He has nothing to “walk back” from.

    1. I truly agree with your comments. I don’t see the need to “walk back” anything when it is simply the truth. No reasons to stir up the #metoo movement for political gains. Parents should know what their responsibilities are and the government should not forget what is good governance.

  4. C.Ben.David you are really getting on my last nerve. Do you have daughters, nieces etc. One thing I want you to know about me is this, you can reply with the most nastiest comments that you are so famous for, but guess what it wont phase me, because you are not worth it. I think you need to take a break from posting shit. Its seems like your life is full of negativity and bad experiences. I was wondering if you are an old man who is just angry with the world and women. In the future if you chose to post anything let it be positive and inspirational.

  5. My first thought is asking myself; do these politicians have to twist every uncanny response into more instances of confusions? We all have agreed that ‘unlawful sexual conduct’ is a big concern and therefore together, welcome the newly formed committee to investigate all related matters.

    This is breaking of new ground and no doubt would present some unguarded difficulties in responding to certain questions as is clearly the situation at hand.

    The Opposition Senator Kay Bacchus-Baptiste; knowing that hormones are a driving facture within both sexes; male and female, in identifying Assistant Commissioner of Police Richard Browne difficulty in expressing “the right word” at the moment of the interview, had the option to exercise a more benevolent approach by her putting more emphasis on the importance to parental guidance in the homes for both young men and women.

    Let us not overlook the responsibility of the parents, where we have been taught that discipline begins at home. It is like a warning which helps children know how to anticipate the consequences of their actions.

  6. This Ben shocks me every time with garbage delivered almost intellectually … you ought to stop breathing hot air … honestly

  7. Rawlston Pompey says:

    MISUNDERSTANDING – MISSPOKE

    No reason not to accepting what is published in the news report.
    This Editor is known for reporting what he has heard.

    From the news report, the reporter was merely seeking to ascertain in which of these (i) …Statutory Rape: (ii) …Incest; and (iii) …Rape’ has the increase. The Senior officer appeared to have been ‘caught napping or yapping.’

    Giving the Senior officer the benefit of ‘…some doubt,’ though it appeared that he may have …Misunderstood the question.’

    He should have been prepared to make the distinction and show the area of increase..

    For Example, if the age of consent is specified in the ‘…Statute Law’ as 16 years,’ what this means is that (a) …If a male has sexual intercourse with a female under that age, even with her consent, the law prohibits the sexual act, thus ‘…Statutory Rape.’

    The law is saying that the female cannot give consent. Therefore, the critical element is ‘…AGE;’. (b)

    …INCEST, if a person has sexual intercourse with his ‘…mother; …sister; …aunt; …niece; …brother; uncle; …nephew; …grandparents; …grandchildren,’ irrespective of consent or age,
    such sexual act is classified as Incest’- key element is ‘…BLOOD RELATIONSHIP.’

    (c) In the case of ‘RAPE,’ it is the same sexual act, but the key element is ‘…CONSENT or CONSENSUAL.’
    The female must ‘…freely and willingly consent.’

    However, there is always lingering danger. That is to say when the female says stop, as much as a man may wish to continue until he reaches Owia, ‘…he shall immediately stop.’

    If he does not, then he would be ‘…having sexual intercourse with the female against her will and without her consent.’

    From professional experience, many men had paid the ultimate price-‘…arrested and charged with rape.’

    A female above the age of consent ‘…can give consent and can take it back, even if the male has not yet reached Calliaqua.’

    This is not the case with ‘…Statutory Rape.’ No consent can be given, thus, none can be taken back.

  8. Quite simply put people, these underage girls or boys do not have the mental capacity to make such a decision given the hormones. Therefore the adult and only the adults should be held accountable for the actions against these children.

  9. I think this ACP Brown should not only walk back the comment but he should not be a part of the team charged with investigating these types of crimes.

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