A MOTHER AND FATHER were arrested and charged with neglecting children after the mother was allegedly seen begging with her kids.
The parents were also charged with perverting the course of justice after they gave the police incorrect names.
The children ages four and one have since been placed in protective custody.
Allegations are in early March, Woman Constable Narda Gayle of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) saw the mother with the two children begging in the Corporate Area. The mother was reportedly given assistance and told not to beg with the children because it was putting them at risk.
It is reported that on March 11, Woman Constable Gayle again saw the children looking dirty while begging with the accused woman. She was arrested and charged with neglecting children and the toddlers were placed in protective custody. Police investigations show the woman was also seen begging with the children in the Corporate Area, Spanish Town and Mandeville.
On March 13, the matter was brought before the Children's Court and the minors were released in the custody of a man who claimed to be their father. The man reportedly told the court he did not know the woman was using the children to beg and that she came to the market to sell. The court in releasing the children in the custody of the man, ordered that the older child be placed in a school.
The police allege that when the woman was arrested and while the matter was in court, both adults gave their names as Donovan Dixon and Diane Thompson. They also gave the children's names as Michelle and Jody-Ann Dixon.
It is reported that the police made efforts to place the four-year-old in a school in Cross Roads but when efforts were made to contact the man, he could not be found and his cellphone went unanswered.
The police report that on April 19 when the matter was to be mentioned in court, they tried again to call the man but he allegedly told them they were calling the wrong number. The police add that neither he nor the woman turned up for court that day. A bench warrant was prepared and the police went to their St. Catherine address but could not find them.
On April 28, it is reported the police were called to the Glenhope Place of Safety after Child Development Agency(CDA) officers had taken the same children to the place of safety. While there, it is reported both the parents turned up and the CDA officers told the police their correct names. They were arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice.
Meanwhile, Inspector Duetress Foster-Gardener of the CISOCA said it would be clamping down on parents who send their children out on the streets or use them to beg as the practise was putting children at risk.
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