The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in October charged 19 people with a total of 34 counts of separate serious sexual offences.

The offences include 23 incidents of rape, one of indecent assault, six cases of defilement and four cases of sexual assault.

There are 18 victims of the 34 counts of separate incidents of whom 12 victims are under the age of 18 years. 17 are female victims and 1 male victim.

Of the 19 people charged, three were juveniles.

One 16-year-old boy was charged with the rape of his 8-year-old niece, another 16-year-old boy was charged with the rape of an 11-year-old boy while another 16-year-old boy was charged with defilement of a 15-year-old girl.

6 incidents were recorded by the ODPP where the victims and the accused persons were related to one another.

Three separate incidents involved stepfathers who were charged with the rape of their stepdaughters.

In one incident a 30-year-old man was charged with the rape of his 8-year-old step daughter while in another incident a 39-year-old man was charged with the rape of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

There were two separate incidents where a 19-year-old and a 27-year-old man were charged with the rape of their 7-year-old and 18-year-old cousins respectively.

There was one incident where a 19-year-old man was charged with the rape and indecent assault of a 17-year-old girl.

The accused and the victim were neighbours.

In a separate incident one 18-year-old and a 19-year-old man were charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman.

There was one incident where a 29-year-old man was charged for allegedly raping a 30-year-old woman at a drinking party.

There was one incident where a 30-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl.

A 21-year-old and an 18-year-old man were charged with defilement of a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl respectively.

Meanwhile, the ODPP also notes that three cases were withdrawn after discontinuances (Nolle Prosequi) were filed.

Two cases were withdrawn due to false complaints and one case was withdrawn due to a lack of credible evidence.