By Belize Live News Staff: Two cases involving church leaders are forcing Belizeans to confront difficult questions about how children and young people are protected in places of worship.
At home, Kevin Tzib, 33, a pastor at Dunamis Ministries in Santa Elena, Cayo, is facing six counts of sexual assault and one count of unnatural crime. The charges relate to four male complainants and alleged incidents between February 2021 and July 2026. He was denied bail and remains on remand until November 21. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Overseas, Edward “Eddie” Gallagher, 59, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Derry, has pleaded guilty to 109 child sex offences committed between 2023 and 2025. He will be sentenced on December 9, and his bishop has asked the Pope to dismiss him from the priesthood.
Now, the Irish News reports that Gallagher is believed to have brought a teenage boy under 18 from a mission in Belize to Ireland to live with him. The Diocese of Derry says it has no knowledge or record of the arrangement and that it would not have been tolerable.
The two cases are separate and unconnected. But together, they have put a spotlight on the trust families place in religious leaders and on whether enough safeguards exist to protect young people.
