By Breaking Belize News Staff: Church Senator Pastor Louis Wade says the viral video showing a young boy engaged in highly sexualized dancing with three adult women at the Orange Walk Carnival demonstrates what he describes as a dangerous lack of boundaries between adult Carnival revelry and children.
Speaking with BBN on Tuesday following a strongly worded statement from the National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB), Wade said the churches will not remain silent on the issue and argued that authorities must establish minimum standards governing the participation and exposure of children at Carnival events.
“The church cannot remain silent, will not remain silent,” Wade said, adding that the latest incident reinforced concerns previously raised by religious groups about the direction Carnival has taken.
Wade said he also saw footage involving a young girl and an adult woman and argued that the fact such videos are recorded and publicly posted indicates that sexualized behaviour involving children is becoming normalized in some sections of society.
“Belize is in trouble if the Government does not act now to put in place minimum standards and get our children out of Carnival,” Wade said.
He argued that the Orange Walk festivities further blurred the separation between adult and junior Carnival participation, noting that children were dressed in costume designs similar to those worn by adults.
Wade also criticized what he described as the suspension or relaxed enforcement of normal standards during Carnival, questioning why conduct considered inappropriate toward a child in other settings should be treated differently because it takes place during festivities.
Despite his strong criticism, Wade stopped short of calling for Carnival itself to be cancelled, saying the churches have not reached that position and continue to support September Celebrations and cultural activities.
“We need to do better than this gutter product that we are currently displaying to the world,” Wade said.
His comments follow NEAB’s call Tuesday for police action against the three adult women seen in the viral Orange Walk video. The organization also said that if the boy’s mother recorded and posted the footage, she should face police action, and called for officers assigned to Carnival events to intervene when adults engage children in sexualized behaviour.
Police have since confirmed that inquiries will be made. During Tuesday’s press briefing, police said the Department of Human Services should also be made aware of the matter and stressed that parental consent or a parent’s unwillingness to make a complaint would not prevent authorities from acting where the welfare of a child is concerned. Police said the best interests of the child remain paramount.
Facebook also removed the video after it was posted by BBN, determining that the footage violated its rules concerning child sexual exploitation.
The controversy echoes a similar incident during the 2024 Belize City Carnival, when then-Commissioner of Police Chester Williams described sexualized dancing by an adult woman with a young boy as “tantamount to an assault of a sexual nature upon that child.”
Earlier this month, before the Orange Walk incident, the Belize Council of Churches had already called for clearer Carnival costume standards, greater modesty and particular safeguards where minors are involved, while also saying it did not seek to diminish Carnival as a cultural tradition.
The post ‘Belize Is In Trouble’: Pastor Louis Wade says Government must act now, get children out of Carnival after viral video appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Church Senator Pastor Louis Wade says the viral video showing a young boy engaged in highly sexualized dancing with three adult women at the Orange Walk Carnival demonstrates what he describes as a dangerous lack of boundaries between adult Carnival revelry and children. Speaking with BBN on Tuesday following a
The post ‘Belize Is In Trouble’: Pastor Louis Wade says Government must act now, get children out of Carnival after viral video appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
