A Heinous Crime against a Five-year Old
January 25, 2018 ·
A Heinous Crime against a Five-year Old
Francisco B. Bermido, Jr.
The majority of children at the Preda Center are sexually abused teenagers and victims of human trafficking under the age of 18 but there are also younger children who are seriously traumatized and in grave danger having been sexually abused at a younger age by pedophile sex offenders. They too need shelter, protection, care and therapy.
When the Preda team was informed of a suspected heinous crime against Angel, a five-year old child in a remote village on Subic Bay, they responded immediately last October 2017. The little child was crying frequently and complained to her grandmother of vaginal pain. When the child was asked what had happened, she said her papa had molested her. The grandmother was shocked and asked her neighbor for help what to do.
The neighbor heard the words of the child and asked the village preacher what to do and he advised that they report it to the municipal social worker in Subic town. The social worker referred the case to Preda for rescue and care. The mother left the child alone with the father while she went to work as a domestic helper in Antipolo, Rizal. When the team went to the village, there was no sign of the biological father. The child was brought to Preda home for abused children. A medical-legal examination was done in the clinic and laceration due to sexual abuse was found.
The child, Angel is very small for her age, was in a traumatized condition when she joined the Preda children’s home and she was in a daze, unable talk to relate to any one at first. But after a few days of being held and hugged and fussed over by the other children, she became more alert and aware of her surroundings and began to hug the other children, feeling their love and affection. She was not able to talk much but with the psychotherapist giving her anatomical dolls to play with, the child showed clearly what her father had done to her. Angel had been seriously abused.
She is recovering very slowly and is joining the other younger children in the play therapy room and enjoying playing and making friends. Angel is gaining weight and smiling everyday. It will take much more time for her to recover and be reunited with her grandmother. Yet Angel is one more abused child that has found rest and recovery at the Preda children’s home.
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