Trinidad: Mother calls for police action after videos of missing 13-year-old surface online

Trinidad and Tobago: The mother of a 13-year-old girl who went missing and was said to have been found over the weekend says that she wants the police to take action after videos with her daughter's face were posted online by a volunteer search group.

The mother spoke during a media interview, saying that the face of a minor should never have been shown and that the video should not have been made that way.

The girl went missing in mid-September and was found on Friday. The mother said that she contacted the Hunters Search and Rescue Team in search of help, and that she had not seen the group post the faces of other children that they found in the past.

She said that it was hurtful knowing her child's image was being seen in the social media, and that the group had no rights to post it. Asked if she wanted police to take any action, she said yes.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) made a public statement over the weekend asking for the videos to be removed and protecting the identity of the minors, and they were taken down from the group's social media accounts.

The videos were published by the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, led by Shamsudeen Ayube. One reportedly shows a member of the group talking with the child, and another is an interview with a female relative at the Arima Police Station.

Reports noted that the officers of the Special Victims Department are looking to see whether publishing the girl's face and identifying information were a breach of the law, including section 32 of the Sexual Offences Act, chapter 11:28.

The section restricts publishing information likely to identify a complainant and carries a fine of $250,000 and five years of imprisonment on summary conviction. It has not been proven that the section applies.

Ayube responded saying that there is no law governing the posting of a missing child or of the child having been found. He also claimed he was being attacked because of his Guyanese heritage. Till now, no charges have been reported in the matter.