An amended Sexual Offences Act that reintroduces protections for minors, introduces the new offence of grooming and criminalises any act that exposes children to sexual activity, passed its first stage in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
The amendments come nearly two years after a High Court judge, Justice Michelle Weekes, struck down Sections 9 and 12 of the previous Sexual Offences Act – which had criminalised buggery and serious indecency – deeming them unconstitutional.
The latter section also dealt with indecent sexual conduct with minors and Attorney General Dale Marshall told lawmakers that the amendments were necessary to restore the law’s core provisions for protecting minors and to expand its reach.
“We have gone into significant detail to ensure that the preparatory acts – the grooming, the early approaches – all of those things, we are making them clear and incontrovertible breaches of our law, and visiting those individuals convicted with heavy fines,” Marshall said.
He stressed that a determined effort was required to combat predatory behaviour, particularly given the prevalence of such offences in the country.
The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill defines a minor as any individual under the age of 16 and includes specific provisions for the offence of grooming. Marshall cited a recent case where a man manipulated a 13-year-old boy into feeling at ease, ultimately leading to a serious sexual assault.
“There was a progression of conduct which caused this young boy to feel at first at ease and comfortable with the older gentleman, and one thing led to the next. This schoolboy found himself the victim of a sexual assault of a most pernicious nature,” the attorney general said. “Grooming is perhaps the best word to describe it. It does not happen abruptly; it is something that happens progressively, and it relies on the inexperience of a child and his or her inability to differentiate whether this conduct is appropriate or not. We now have provided for an offence of grooming.”
Under the proposed amendments, grooming is defined as an offence if a person, having met or communicated with a minor previously, intentionally meets or travels to meet the minor, with the intent to engage in any sexual conduct, whether in Barbados or abroad. A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 20 years.
The Bill also introduces new penalties for those who perform sexual acts in the presence of minors.
Marshall highlighted the need for these measures, saying, “There are certain people who are so liberal that they would find that this kind of stuff might be exciting. They might even be using it as a mechanism to groom future participants, but we are saying that such conduct is absolutely unlawful.”
The Bill specifies that a person is guilty of that offence if they intentionally engage in sexual activity in the presence of a minor, knowing or believing that the minor is aware, or intending that the minor should become aware. The penalty for such an offence is a fine of up to $10 000 or two years’ imprisonment on summary conviction, and up to 10 years’ imprisonment on conviction on indictment.
Further amendments create an offence of intentionally causing a minor to watch another person engage in sex for the individual’s own sexual gratification or to view pornographic images or videos. Possession, distribution, or production of indecent photographs of minors, regardless of whether there is an intention to show them, is also deemed a punishable offence.
Attorney General Marshall urged Barbadians to confront the uncomfortable reality of sexual offences against minors and to engage in a concerted effort to safeguard children from such predatory acts.
He said: “The fact is, in today’s world, we have dysfunctional families, we have dysfunctional family relationships, we even have perverse family relationships, and it is important for the state to step in the breach, and provide mechanisms to protect our young people from predatory and unlawful conduct. Plain and simple.”
Marshall declared that society had become too complacent about sexual offences and urged more proactive intervention.
“We don’t like to talk about it . . . we find that a little touching of a leg advances beyond that. You have people who say, ‘Meet me in town,’ and then it advances way beyond that. We don’t like to talk about these things because it represents a nasty and unpleasant underbelly of a society,” said the minister.
“We can only afford those who need that protection if we are prepared to look at it, call it out for what it is, then put laws to address it.”
The amendments also address the violation of a person suffering from a mental disorder or physical disability. A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to life in prison.
The Bill will now proceed to the Senate for final ratification before heading to the president for signature into law.
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