Garda inquiry as a girl of 14 has her second baby in a year

A 14-YEAR-OLD girl who has given birth for the second time in just over a year has been taken into care.

Gardaí are investigating if she was a victim of incest or might have been forced into sexual slavery or an arranged marriage.

Officers were called to a maternity unit in a Dublin hospital on Thursday night while an order to place her in to care was obtained at a night time sitting of a special court.

Any girl under the age of 16 who has a baby is automatically classified as a victim of statutory rape. As this is the young girl’s second child it suggests that she may have become pregnant with her first child at the age of 12.

Tusla, the child and family care agency, has been granted a care order but a spokesman said it is not in a position to confirm reports that the child is from a minority community in Ireland. The spokesman said: ‘This is a very sensitive

‘They must face the full rigour of law’

matter. The lives of very vulnerable people are involved in such cases and children have a right to privacy. We are not in a position to confirm anything.’

A HSE source said: ‘Gardaí were providing protection to this girl because under law, she has been the victim of a statutory rape. A Garda investigation is under way.’

The girl had her first child over a year ago, making her the youngest mother to have two children in the country.

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said: ‘Sadly we know children in Ireland are victims of sexual abuse, the second most serious crime of all.

‘If a child of 14 has been a victim in this way, then the perpetrator needs to be punished and face the full rigours of the law. We need an education system where vulnerable children feel they can speak up about abuse.’

The maximum sentence for statutory rape, engaging in a sexual act with a child under 17, is five years’ imprisonment and ten years if certain aggravating circumstances are present.