Grandpa started the abuse, says boy

A boy has testified that the nine child porn accused "must stay far away" from him for the bad things they did to him.

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A 10-year-old boy allegedly forced to have sex with his cousins desperately wants to apologise to one of them for “die slegte dinge” (the bad things) he was forced to do to her, the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday.

“Bob (not the boy's real name) wants to say sorry for what he did to her. He talks about it often,” investigating officer Warrant Officer Tonya Louwrens testified during the bail application of the boy's 32-year-old mother before Magistrate Pierre Wessels.

The woman is one of nine people accused of a string of child pornography and related charges.

Louwrens said the boy told police he had been forced to have sex with cousins of both sexes.

He blamed his grandfather for starting the abuse when he was in grade one. The court heard the grandfather's alleged abuse included fondling the boy's genitals.

“His hands were very rough and that hurt me,” the boy was quoted as saying in a forensic assessor's report read to the court by Louwrens.

The court was told that after the boy's father and grandfather had sex with the children, they were then forced to have sex with each other.

According to the boy's own statement, parts of which were read to the court: “Pappa het ook seks gehad met Janine (not her real name). Ek wou nie kyk nie (Daddy also had sex with Janine. I did not want to look).”

Louwrens said the boy wanted the accused, including his mother, to go to jail.

“According to him, all these people must stay far away from him because of the slegte dinge (bad things) they did to him.”

The boy's mother is believed to be the wife of accused number eight. She was arrested near Hammanskraal in January.

The eight arrested last year are the grandfather, 58, grandmother, 57, their two sons from previous relationships, aged 34 and 36, the grandfather's brother, 61, and his wife, 42, and their son, who is reportedly mentally disabled. The 26-year-old wife of one of the sons was also arrested.

They face charges of rape, indecent assault, sexual grooming of children and possession, manufacturing and distribution of child pornography.

Six children, aged four and older, were allegedly used in sex movies, which were allegedly distributed.

Four other children were removed from the care of the accused and sent for psychological and medical tests.

Louwrens told the court on Thursday that since the children had been taken into safety they had not been together and had no possibility of corroborating each other's story regarding the abuse that took place.

However, under cross examination by the woman's lawyer Chris Greyvenstein she conceded that none of the evidence put before the court until now had directly linked the woman to any of the specific charges.

The court was told that a number of the children had told police that the woman had done nothing to stop the abuse, but there was no mention of any specific incident where the woman was present.

She also conceded under cross-examination that the woman did not have the financial means to purchase an air ticket and leave the country.

She also conceded that the boy's medical report had revealed “no evidence of recent anal penetration”.

During the bail applications in January, the court heard that the State was investigating the possibility of a connection with a child pornography syndicate.

The bail hearing continues on April 1, when Wessels said he would want to hear Louwrens presenting evidence directly linking the woman to the accusation that she was a co-perpetrator of rape against the children or an accomplice to the charges.

“I need to make a decision based on the strength of the State's case,” he said.

Louwrens conceded that the decision to arrest the woman was made solely on the basis of the boy's statement against his mother.

The woman's eight co-accused are expected to appear in the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court on April 6, when it was expected a decision would be made on whether to send the case to the regional court.

Sapa

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/grandpa-started-the-abuse-says-boy-1.1046822

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