Turner’s Budget Debate Speech Turns Emotional as He Recounts Children Tied, Beaten and Starved
Social Transformation Minister Rawdon Turner delivered one of the most emotional presentations of the 2026 Budget Debate on Monday as he read out a series of recent child-abuse cases handled by his ministry, describing situations in which children were raped, beaten, starved and restrained in their homes.
Turner began by outlining a case involving a nine-year-old girl who walked into a police station in pain, with “tears drying on her cheeks,” after her stepfather assaulted her. He said the child told her mother what happened but was initially dismissed when the mother replied, “Not my man,” insisting her daughter was lying. Staff from the ministry spent from 7 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. trying to convince the mother to protect her child.
He then detailed the case of a young boy who came to school bruised, malnourished and silent. Turner’s officers were told the child’s father had repeatedly beaten him with a 2×4 board, leaving his arm unable to hang properly. “Fierce blows from a two-by-four at nine years old,” Turner said, adding that the child was “terrified” and “covered in scars.”
The minister also described an incident in which officers responded to reports that a child had been beaten over three consecutive days. When they arrived, he said a lawyer stood at the door attempting to block the police and social workers from entering. Inside, they found a small boy with ligature marks on his hands and feet, “starving, wounded and silent,” tied to a bed.
Turner commended child-protection staff for their work, saying he regularly receives late-night alerts from officers responding to emergencies. “They don’t work from 8 to 4:30. They work 24 hours when it comes to the children of this country,” he told Parliament.
He also criticised the use of gender-based violence and child-abuse cases for political content on social media. Turner urged the Opposition to discourage supporters from posting videos and personal details of victims online, calling the behaviour “vexing” and warning that it often interferes with active interventions. “You don’t shame a child who’s been abused,” he said.
Turner ended with a promise to the nation’s children, pledging to continue advocating to the Attorney General, the police, the Cabinet and the Parliament to strengthen protections. “We must do better as a people,” he said.
WATCH: Full clip of Turner’s emotional presentation is available at the end of this report.
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