Child Protection Concerns Raised Following Murder of 10-Year-Old Shani Coke

As child rights advocates call for stronger protection measures following the gruesome sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Shani Coke, a psychologist is highlighting warning signs linked to sex offenders.

 

Lobby group Hear the Children's Cry is condemning the sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Shani Coke. Spokesperson for the child rights group, Priscilla Duhaney, says the act of mob violence that followed the killing of the tender-aged girl must be approached with caution.

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking on CVM's Lead Story Wednesday, she noted that while residents might be of the view they had no other option, the person attacked and killed did not face the court and was not found guilty of the crime.

 

Duhaney said, “Based on what we have we're also hearing and seeing in the media is that they would have made several appeals to the police station in Warsop and nothing happened. So, I'm a little bit concerned yes about what they did but I'm also thinking that there might have been no other alternative in their mind, but at the same time, we have to balance. There's no evidence based on what we are hearing that this particular Delroy Coke suspect is actually the person who is guilty and he really did not get a chance to be tried or to have his voice heard.”

 

Duhaney said more must be done to protect children noting that there are not enough public education campaigns focused on child safety and prevention.

 

“What roles are the parents are to play? The church for me is very important very significant. And I've also said that during this time, the summer period, unfortunately, we have to be more vigilant. We have to get our children involved in some of these programs. The church and the community need to have programs in place to get our children involved. And unfortunately, if that doesn't happen, they are likely to be more exposed to danger, to crime, to violence in the community or in the home.”

In the meantime, counselling psychologist Dr Patrice Charles King weighed in on the conversation, explaining there are factors that drive people to commit these heinous acts.

 

She said, “Some form of mental health disability, some malignancy in in their personality, uh some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. You know, some individuals hear voices telling them to do it. So, you have a chemical imbalance like schizophrenia. And I don't want I don't want it to be assumed that just because someone has a mental health disorder that this is something that will happen, because that's absolutely not true. Some individuals do have sexual some form of sexual issues and they demonstrate it in this way.”

 

Dr Charles King says individuals with a propensity to engage in sexual acts against children often display signs of inappropriate sexual behaviour which should be treated seriously.

 

“Inappropriate behaviour, inappropriate contact, touching, grooming, inappropriate conversations, stalking. Those are those are some serious red flags. You need to look out for, you know, a child coming into a shop and an adult going up to a child and having a certain type of conversation, making certain comments when that child leaves about their physical appearance. It's inappropriate and it's a red flag.”