PARAMARIBO--Suriname is in uproar over the arrests late last week of a band of men who, according to police, have been preying on young boys, infecting some of them with HIV.
Police have identified the suspects as Fedor B. (58), Sharlton Z. (24), Milroy W. alias Max (26), Roy C. (44) and Durgapersad R. (34). They were taken into custody on Wednesday, November 2, by officers of the Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Department.
Police said the men approached unwitting boys via social media, using fake accounts with fake names and pictures. They lured their victims to meet them at undisclosed locations, where they then proceeded to have sex with them. Police said that in some cases, several men abused the boys together during the sexual encounters.
According to police, several of the suspects are HIV-positive and they reportedly “ordered” their victims to have sex with as many people as possible to spread the virus further. Boys who resisted were blackmailed into not reporting the abuse. As a result it took a while before it was unearthed.
Police did not release the name of the victims and only gave the first initials of the suspects’ last names. However, it nonetheless quickly became public knowledge that Fedor B. refers to Fedor Bottse, formerly the life partner of a former chair of the National Assembly. Bottse is a known sexual predator who has been named in homosexual scandals in the past. A board member of the Progressive People’s Party, he was asked to vacate his post in 2014, when he posted a snuggly photo of himself with a young boy of Asian descent.
The arrests have prompted heated discussions around the country. Education Minister Robert Peneux, who since he was appointed fired several teachers over paedophilia suspicions, was vocal about his disgust on Tuesday. “These men should be happy I am not the Minister of Justice and Police. They would not have it easy,” he said.
The Education Minister said he would have seen to a radical punishment. “They should be castrated!”
Justice and Police Minister Jennifer van Dijk-Silos said the perpetrators were obviously sick individuals. “Unfortunately we have been giving this type of behaviour a pass for too long. That angers and irritates me,” she said. Her Ministry is highly involved in the efforts of the Education Ministry to set up sexual abuse hotlines throughout the country. “Those hotlines have already proven helpful to fight the structural abuse of children.”
Police are meanwhile calling on parents to pay attention to the online behaviour of their children. They pointed out that the group of suspects would not have been able to take advantage of children for so long, had the parents been monitoring. “Do not hesitate to contact us the moment you notice irregularities in your child’s behaviour,” police said.
