Let’s break the silence and protect those who most desperately need our protection, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

Here we are in January, confronted by a pitiful sentence of 14 years for 47 charges of sexual offences – indecent assault, inducing indecent acts, sodomy, and attempted rape – committed against two children under the age of 14 between 2010 and 2019.

Fourteen years is hardly sufficient for 47 charges, however, when our judges are constrained by a 1969 Crimes Act – yes, and Members of Parliament that sit for only 14 days a year, Police, Judges and lawyers are left having to work with what they are given.

We must hold our elected officials accountable for the sentences handed down for these crimes because only they can change the law, and only they can do it in Parliament – and not out of the country. So, when did this case start and where were some of our elected officials?

Last April, while some of our elected officials were in Barcelona, Spain, and later in Athens, at a cost of $17,000, our overworked and underpaid police officers were beginning an investigation into the suspected sexual abuse of minors.

Also read: ‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison

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Then in May, while some elected officials were away again in Tbilisi, Georgia, and then the sunny Antigua and Barbuda, the suspect was transferred to Rarotonga and remanded at the Arorangi Prison.

The court heard that the sexual offending involved minor victims, and the case was adjourned to June 28. At the same court hearing, another man was accused of assaulting a female – another commendable case brought by our underpaid and overworked police.

In July, Punanga Tauturu challenged us that deep-rooted attitudes and cultural norms in Cook Islands society lead some men to believe they have the right to control women and girls, demanding obedience even within marriage. From April to June, at least four more cases involving assaults on women and children were heard in court.

But that might have been missed by elected officials in Brisbane, then Tokyo, Suva and Nuku’alofa – this time at a cost of $50,000 to the Cook Islands taxpayer. According to the Parliament website, $6000 of that was spent on “entertainment” and about $6500 on “meal allowances”. I doubt most families in Rarotonga spent $6000 on feeding their families over the months of July and August, let alone the poor offer for our Police force and recruiting.

In August, our incredible Cook Islands police were investigating a rape allegation and inappropriate sexual contact, labelling these as “serious incidents”. In September, despite a clearly absent Police Commissioner, our Police force successfully brought a man over the age of 30 to trial, convicting him of raping a girl aged between 12 and 16 in Rarotonga.

By October, another case involving a man accused of raping a girl under the age of 12 was adjourned to November, charged with nine counts of inducing an indecent act, three counts of rape, and one count of indecent assault on a girl under 12.

Finally, in December, a man was charged with 55 separate offences, including rape, indecent assault, and indecent acts. He admitted to 47 of these charges, denying eight. While in another rape case, a man under interim name suppression, applied for legal aid.

November 2024 saw similar cases of violence against women and others accused of rape and indecent assault. But perhaps some elected officials missed those too, as trips to New Zealand were arranged – including a visit to the Beehive about our New Zealand passport.

So maybe our new Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc, could also lobby the government to address such crimes, because up until now there has been not one letter on this subject in defence of the defenceless.

Should we just declare we are a Christian nation or should we demonstrate this?

And for us all – how did this man commit these hideous crimes over 10 years without anyone knowing? Of course, someone knew, but maybe, like our elected officials, we too were out of the country, out of sight, out of mind, or just out of courage. Or frustrated by the inaction and silence that has invaded the heart and spirit of our country.

Let’s break the silence and protect those who most desperately need our protection. We need our elected officials and Parliament, our Church leaders, our Traditional leaders, our homes, our men and women and our families to stand up and speak up – not one more child, please, not one more.