Posted: Friday, March 28, 2025. 2:34 pm CST.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Shania Shahera Welch, 21, a student from Gales Point Manatee, was granted bail on Thursday after spending over five months on remand for charges of child pornography and sexual assault upon a 10-year-old child. Welch’s case concluded in a preliminary inquiry (PI) last week Monday, March 17, 2025, at the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, where the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) herself oversaw the proceedings.
The PI resulted in a paper committal, meaning Welch will stand trial at the upcoming April session of the High Court on charges of making child pornography and sexual assault.
According to police reports based on the victim’s statement, Welch allegedly instructed the 10-year-old girl to use a Dove deodorant spray bottle to masturbate and insert it into her private parts while recording the activity.
Welch was initially denied bail following her arraignment in early October 2024 and had been in custody for five months and twenty days. During the PI, the DPP submitted several statements against Welch.
Bail was granted in the sum of $8,000 plus one surety of the same amount or two sureties of $4,000 each, which Welch met today. Conditions of her bail include a prohibition from interfering with the victim, a requirement to stay at least 200 yards away from the child, and weekly reporting to the police station.
The allegations against Welch stem from a period between December 31, 2020, and January 1, 2022, when she allegedly made a video of the minor engaged in explicit sexual activity and intentionally made the child touch her private parts.
Police Prosecutor had previously objected to bail, citing concerns that Welch might interfere with the victim. While Welch offered no objection when questioned about bail during an earlier hearing, it was initially denied. The case originated in June 2024 after authorities received information about an explicit video involving a minor circulating in southern Belize. The victim was identified as a 10-year-old girl who was interviewed with her mother and a social worker, leading to the identification of Welch as the individual in the video.
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The post Gales Point woman granted bail in child sex abuse case appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Friday, March 28, 2025. 2:34 pm CST. By Breaking Belize News Staff: Shania Shahera Welch, 21, a student from Gales Point Manatee, was granted bail
The post Gales Point woman granted bail in child sex abuse case appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
