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Ruthless and Revolting Exploitation Of Mentally Challenged
posted (June 13, 2016)
The Ministry of Health has put out a public statement condemning a revolting video that has been posted on Facebook. The video depicts two mentally challenged adults, a male and a female being directed to engage in sexual acts - all in exchange for a soft drink. The vile four-minute video shows them being prodded on and directed by a boisterous group of women. In the end it breaks up when the male gets afraid because someone says police are coming. It is a sad commentary on the state of our society's standards, but abuse of the mentally ill is widespread, and it is not the first such video posted on facebook. Looking at the video, there's no clue as to what town or city it happened in, but the Commander of Southside police today said that while it is repulsive, to actually prosecute the persons responsible for co-ercing the sexual exploitation of these mentally ill persons is difficult. Here's how he explained why:

ACP Chester Williams, OC, Eastern Division South
"I have not seen the video fully. I only saw a snippet of it and I do not know if the persons in the video are homeless. I know for a fact that there is a law against the proliferation of pornographic materials and the video is posted I was told on Facebook - I don't know. If one should post any pornographic material on any social media site or anywhere in public, they can be charged. But the difficulty that we will have in instituting charges against those persons will be to prove that they are the ones who actually post it on the net. We know if we should approach those persons, they will say 'it is not me, someone have my Facebook page' or they will find some excuse to get out of it and we cannot prove that they are the ones who actually did it. So there is where the technicality will come in as to how we will move forward with that investigation."

In its statement, the Ministry of Health says, quote, "The Ministry…is appalled at this assault on human dignity and is dismayed that these persons felt comfortable enough to record and share this video to further humiliate this couple and their families.

The Ministry of Health implores all Belizeans to protect the privacy and rights of all people, especially those who are made vulnerable because of physical and mental disabilities." End quote.

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