Stranger Arrested

Upon returning to the village Thursday evening, I interviewed some children with concerned parents and heard some disturbing stories involving the strange "white man" visitor molesting some young boys on several occasions.

I resisted a strong urge to confront the man that night. A group of young men approached me wanting to form a group and fight the man. I talked them down, explaining that if we fought the man, he most likely would run away before the police had a chance to question him. A school teacher had already reported the case to the police and we were told that some officers would arrive the following morning to investigate.

I drank a big shell of kava to make myself sleep, otherwise I would have spent the night angry and tempted to confront the man. I awoke at 3AM, tossed and turned thinking about situation in the village and arose from bed deciding that it would be impossible to sleep.

The police questioned the children intensively from 10AM - 3PM. At first they denied everything, changing their stories, but a local man told the children that if they lied, they too would be sent to jail. Afraid of being sent to prison, around ten young boys offered their testimony.

Many parents were surprised to hear their stories. Apparently the "white man" had been attending Bible studies at a local church and the pastor had even proclaimed him to be a good Christian.

The police took all of our statements and took the man into their custody for questioning. He will be held for up to 2 weeks in jail until a judge reviews the case and evidence and decides to set bail. I hope that the man pleads guilty so that the village children are not dragged into a courtroom to prolong this whole mess.