Popular Afrikaans singer Jurie Els, now living in New Zealand with his athlete wife Hestrie Cloete, has broken the silence around accusations of sexual abuse levelled against him by another, younger singer, Robbie Klay, media reports said on Friday.
Three weeks ago, Klay alleged that “‘n oom [an uncle]” in the entertainment industry had for seven years sexually molested him as a child.
Els thereafter obtained a temporary interdict to prevent Media24 celebrity magazines Huisgenoot and You from publishing an interview with Klay in which he was named. The interview was still published, but Els’s name was removed.
In the meantime, Klay has filed charges against Els.
On Monday this week, Els filed papers at the Cape High Court containing his version of the relationship between him and Klay, Beeld newspaper reported on Friday.
Els would like to see Huisgenoot‘s editorial staff and Media24 be found guilty of contempt of court for publishing the interview with Klay, as he claims that readers would have had no trouble identifying him as the accused.
The singer says Klay “doesn’t shy away from lying” and that his accusations should be evaluated taking into account Klay’s “personality profile”, according to Beeld.
In his statement, Els says he met the 11-year-old Klay when he was an executive producer at record company BMG (now Sony BMG) and helped the young singer record his music.
He got to know Klay and realised the boy had “personality defects” and couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong. At the time, Els claims, Klay also had a bed-wetting problem, and while on tour, the boy often had to sleep with Els in his bed as he had wet his own.
“Nothing improper happened between us,” says Els.
Beeld also quotes Els as claiming that the young Klay was “obsessed with sex” and that he had found Klay looking at pornography on the internet.
In reaction to Els’s statement, Klay on Thursday rejected his claims “with the contempt they deserve”, the newspaper reported. “His claims are ridiculous and untrue. With a police investigation now under way, I know the truth will emerge in court,” Klay said.
Other claims in Els’s court papers include that Klay’s mother, Jenny Liebenberg, on one occasion tried to seduce him (Els), and that his marriage to Cloete affected Klay badly, as the younger singer had always hoped that Els would marry Liebenberg.