says beat up her toddler.

Single parent Ms Tracy Lynn Wilkinson, 29, believes she has no choice but to take the man to court herself.

A year after the incident, she says, Government legal officials have failed to prosecute him.

On November 10 last year, Ms Wilkinson allowed her four-year-old son to stay with playmates.

The boy was severely beaten by his baby-sitter's husband, she told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"He was burned with cigarettes inside his ear and on his nose,'' she said.

"He had bruised ribs and two black eyes and bruises on his back.

"He was punched so hard on the back of the head that it caused his skull to shift.

"When my son came home the next day I asked him what had happened to his ear, and he said he was told not to tell.

"Then he said the man had burned him with a cigarette.'' The boy spent two nights in hospital. When he came out, said Ms Wilkinson, he was frightened of men doing the same thing as his attacker, or who were of the same race.

He would try to act out the attack in games with his sister, saying "Let's play burn the ear''.

"It's affected him as far as being nervous and not trusting anybody. Every now and then he just jumps.

"For now he seems OK, but then again you never know as he grows up. "I think I was affected more than he was. It still feels like it happened yesterday.

"Not a day goes by that it isn't in my mind. Since that incident, if I sleep three or four hours a night then that's it.'' The man was held by Police for the weekend but denied the attack, Ms Wilkinson said.

He had a conviction for the attempted murder of his wife and was a known abuser of children, she added.

She had strong medical evidence that her son was attacked by an adult, she said.

A psychologist had concluded her son understood the difference between telling the truth and make-believe.

She believed the attacker had mental problems and was abused as a child himself.

She understood the authorities had decided not to prosecute because her son was too young to testify, and there were no other witnesses.

"I've been running back and forth trying to get this man to go to court. "I haven't had a letter sent to me, I haven't had anyone call me. Since November 10 it was always me pursuing everyone on my own.'' Ms Wilkinson is now planning a civil court case against the man with the help of the Coalition for the Protection of Children.

The coalition has called on legal authorities to give the testimony of young children more credibility.

Attorney General Mr. Walter Maddocks said yesterday he could not comment on specific cases.

His position is that he has a duty to protect innocent people from being wrongly charged, and can only go ahead with cases if there is a realistic chance of conviction.

The younger a child, the less likely a judge will allow them to give sworn testimony, Mr. Maddocks said.

By law, unsworn testimony from a child has to be backed by other evidence, he pointed out.