Former Children Protective Services boss charged with child cruelty

This article has been updated

BVI News understands that a woman who reportedly serves as a senior government functionary has been arrested and charged for allegedly ill-treating a minor.

The official, whose name our news centre has opted to withdraw to protect the identity of the minor, is charged with the offence of ‘cruelty to child’.

The accused was charged along with at least one other individual who is believed to be a family member. The circumstances that resulted in the charge are not yet clear to BVI News. It is so unclear to our news centre whether the child involved in the matter was seriously hurt.

The accused woman, who previously served as in a leadership position at the Family, Children & Protective Services, has since been granted police bail and released.

She is expected to appear before the Magistrate’s Court at a later date.

The Social Development Department has, in the past, described the accused as “fervent advocate for the rights of children” who has “assisted in the development of the Protocol for the Prevention, Reporting, Investigation and Management of Child Abuse and Neglect matters in the Virgin Islands”.

She has also sat on the territory’s Child Abuse Investigative Team, which is a multidisciplinary framework established to improve criminal justice, social services and medical/public health responses to child victims of violence, BVI News understands.

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