Minister for Social and Urban Transformation Hon. Rawdon Turner has called for an urgent review of Antigua and Barbuda’s child protection laws after revealing that the Family and Social Services Division has recorded more than 105 reports of child abuse this year.

The Minister made the disclosure in a strongly worded statement following the sentencing of a 56-year-old man to three and a half years in prison for sexually abusing a five-year-old child, saying the case has left him “heartbroken, deeply disturbed and angry.”

Turner said while judges are required to apply the law as enacted by Parliament, lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure that the legal framework reflects the seriousness of crimes committed against children.

“When sentences in child abuse cases repeatedly leave the public asking whether justice has truly been done, Parliament must examine the laws it has enacted,” he said.

The Minister stressed that the 105 reports should not be viewed as a statistic but as evidence of a growing national concern.

“That is 105 children whose innocence has been threatened or stolen. One hundred and five families whose lives have been turned upside down,” Turner said. “These numbers remind us that predators continue to prey on the most vulnerable members of our society.”

He argued that while an offender may serve a prison sentence, child victims often carry the emotional and psychological consequences for a lifetime.

“A child who has been sexually abused does not serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence. That child serves a lifetime sentence,” he said.

Turner is now calling for Parliament to review the country’s sentencing framework for offences against children, including the possibility of tougher penalties and other legislative reforms to strengthen child protection.