7 News Belize

AG Says If There Are Complaints Against Priests, Bring Them Forward
posted (February 20, 2019)
And while the raising of a credible allegation of abuse of minors against a Catholic Priest has raised those considerations for the entire church - state enterprise - what about the impact of this in the wider society?

What happens if the credible allegation of abuse is substantiated and Father Smalls did commit a crime? A notice to Parishioners on Sunday from the Bishop says "I ask your prayers for the victims and request that anyone who may have been harmed by Father Smalls to please contact the chancery at 227-2122 and the civil authorities."

The man in charge of a large part of those civil authorities is the Attorney General, Michael Peyrefitte. Today, he stressed that anything which alleged happened in the US cannot be prosecuted here:..

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"A crime is a crime is a crime. It doesn't matter who matter who has committed it, whether it's a priest, or whether it is whoever within any organization. When you commit in Belize, you commit a crime, as far as the state is concerned, against the people of Belize, and it doesn't matter. However, we can't just speculate and just require the revelation of records that we have nothing to do with. The question would be, did this alleged crime occur in Belize? If it did not occur in Belize, unfortunately for us, it is not within our jurisdiction, and whatever the church decides to do with one of their priests, that's the church's decision. That's not anything to do with the Government."

"If we have evidence that any priest has assaulted any minor in this country, it would not matter if it's a priest. A crime is a crime. It does not matter who commits it. We would go after anybody who would commit any crime. However, like anybody else, we cannot just recklessly and irresponsibility cast aspersions on people for whom we have not evidence that they've committed any crime."

We note that Father Smalls was named in a US Parish - and a letter from his attorney says it's an allegation dating back to 1970 - which Father Smalls disproved by taking a lie detector test. The letter adds, quote "the Catholic Church in Belize is aware that the allegation remains unproven…our client continues to maintain his innocence and good reputation."

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