By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Belize Police Department says it will make inquiries into a viral video showing three adult women engaging in highly sexualized dancing with a young boy during the Orange Walk Carnival, stressing that a parent’s consent would not necessarily prevent authorities from intervening where the welfare of a child is concerned.
The issue was raised with police during a press briefing on Tuesday, after BBN questioned whether authorities would investigate the incident and determine whether any criminal charges could arise.
“If the circumstances are as you are relaying them to be, certainly it is a matter of concern,” police responded, adding that the Department of Human Services should also be made aware of the video.
Police said they were not previously aware of the matter but would make inquiries.
Asked whether authorities could still take action if the child’s parent consented to the behaviour or did not wish to pursue charges, police stressed that decisions involving possible abuse of a child are not left solely to a parent.
“Any abuse concerning a child, that discretion is not left to the parent to decide whether or not actions should be taken,” police said, pointing to the role of social workers and the Human Services Department.
Police noted that in other child abuse cases, a parent may not want charges pursued against an alleged offender, but Human Services can still intervene independently. The best interests of the child, police said, remain the paramount consideration.
The comments come hours after the National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB) called for arrests over the video. In a statement reported earlier by BBN, NEAB described the incident as an “abusive sexual situation involving a child” and called on the Government and Police Department to enforce existing laws.
NEAB said the adult women involved should face police action and went further, saying that if the boy’s mother was the person who recorded and posted the footage, she should also face arrest. The organization also called for police officers deployed at Carnival events to be instructed to intervene when adults engage children in sexualized behaviour.
The video, highlighted by BBN earlier Tuesday, was recorded during Monday’s September 21 Orange Walk Carnival Road March and shows the boy dancing closely behind three different adult female revelers at separate points as they bend and dance provocatively in front of him. The woman who originally posted the video identified the child as her son.
The scenes have drawn comparisons to a similar incident during the 2024 Belize City Carnival. At the time, then-Commissioner of Police Chester Williams described an adult woman’s sexualized dancing with a young boy as “tantamount to an assault of a sexual nature upon that child.”
Williams stressed that the fact the boy appeared to be laughing did not mean he understood what was happening to him, and police subsequently announced an investigation. Belize Carnival Association President Patrick Thompson also condemned the behaviour at the time.
Facebook has since removed the latest Orange Walk video from BBN’s page after determining that it violated the platform’s rules relating to child sexual exploitation.
Police acknowledged Tuesday that Carnival raises a broader national discussion involving culture, personal views and morality, saying the controversy invites a larger conversation about what Belizeans are prepared to accept or embrace.
However, as it relates specifically to children, police made clear that a parent’s approval or unwillingness to pursue action does not necessarily end the matter, with Human Services empowered to intervene where the best interests of a child are at stake.
The post Police to make inquiries into Carnival video; say Human Services should intervene and parental consent would not prevent police action appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Belize Police Department says it will make inquiries into a viral video showing three adult women engaging in highly sexualized dancing with a young boy during the Orange Walk Carnival, stressing that a parent’s consent would not necessarily prevent authorities from intervening where the welfare of a child is
The post Police to make inquiries into Carnival video; say Human Services should intervene and parental consent would not prevent police action appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.