One in every three girls and one in every five boys in Bermuda may have been sexually abused, a detective with the Juvenile and Domestic Crime Unit said yesterday.

?Child abuse is more common than most people believe,? Det. Sgt. Mark Clarke of the Police Service said during an orientation session for new Government teachers. ?It is estimated that one in every five children have suffered some sort of abuse,? Det. Sgt. Clarke said, but said some groups in Bermuda think it could be as many as one in four.

?Children who experience or even witness abuse are more likely to behave violently as adults. We wonder how criminals are born? They are not. Clearly they are a product of their environment,? he said.

Even the high profile murder trial of George (Messy) Liburd featured testimony that the defendant was abused in his childhood, he said.

?The tragedy of violence can be transmitted from one generation to the next and child abuse not only has a damaging impact on children but on society,? he said. ?Recent studies have shown that being abused as a child significantly increases the likelihood of drug abuse, delinquency, adult criminality and violent criminal behaviour.?

The Children?s Act 1998 states that all teachers, doctors, clergymen and Police officers are subject to a $3,000 fine or six months in prison if they fail to protect children from sexual predators by not reporting their concerns to the Director of Social Services.

?Educators should be familiar with the symptoms of child abuse and neglect, including physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse,? Det. Sgt. Clarke said. ?Over the past several years, much discussion has arisen about mandatory reporting of child abuse in Bermuda. In the wake of an apparent societal awareness of domestic violence, child abuse, juvenile pregnancies, sexual predators within our community and overseas sexual abuse by the clergy, the issue is very much on people?s minds.?

Det. Sgt. Clarke said child abuse in Bermuda took many forms including ?neglect, maltreatment and exploitation of children.?

He said ?many professionals are reluctant to break entrenched and long established habits of professional confidence and unwillingness to become involved in legal proceedings?.

?It is conceded that although legislation attaches a penalty for breach of duty to report, prosecutions may rarely be commenced,? he said. ?The issue of mandatory reporting is a complex one which has implications for children, families, workers and our Government.?

He said that health care professionals would not be breaching their professional ethics by turning in sexual deviants.

?It is apparent that mandatory reporting is not a straightforward legal solution to child abuse,? he said. Two new Bermudian teachers ? Chris White and Christopher Tannock ? both said they found the talk informative.

Mr. White, who will begin his teaching career at St. George?s Preparatory next month, said: ?It?s reassuring that if you even suspect somebody you are not going to get your head bitten off as a concerned teacher.?

Mr. Tannock said: ?I have had child abuse recognition training in the US but not in Bermuda and it is good to know there are strong similarities and standards in both places.? Mr. Tannock will soon start his first year of teaching year at the Berkeley Institute.