A 58-year-old grandfather, accused of being involved in a child pornography ring with his wife and six of their family members says the foster daughter he is now accused of molesting was raped by someone else.
The grandfather read out a statement in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court which he and his wife had made while seeking to have their foster son and daughter, aged six and seven, returned to their care.
He said the girl’s oldest sister had told him in 2005, after she was placed in their care, that she suspected the girl had been molested.
The girl was afraid of men, had lice, bad eating habits and manners, swore and had nightmares.
The grandfather contacted the Christian Social Council and took the child to a clinic to confirm their suspicions, but was turned away.
They eventually took the child to the district surgeon in 2006 and he was present when the girl tgold the doctor a man with bad teeth and breath had hurt her in the back of a car at the caravan park where she used to stay, he said.
‘Fondling other children’
According to the grandfather, they had told two different social workers of their suspicions and also complained that the girl was fondling the other children, but were told children played like that and they just had to talk to her nicely.
He said her behaviour became worse, so that they decided to keep the other children away from her. The only reply they received from their social worker was that she had personally investigated the case, that the biological father had been acquitted, the case had been concluded and that the council did not have funds for therapy.
He said the girl was referred to a psychologist, but nothing came of it and they were told she had been molested and that little boys had sex with her while she was in their care.
The grandfather and his wife had explained the child’s background to the psychologist, who suggested that the child should receive counselling.
After the girl came home one day and insisted that she had witnessed a gruesome murder at school, they took her back to the district surgeon, who said she urgently needed psychological help.
“I told her [the social worker] the child had been raped and what are we going to do about it, but no one wanted to help us and every door was slammed in our faces,” he said.
Removed from their care
The grandfather insisted that the girl was removed from their care after he had threatened to take the social worker to court when she told him the doctors’ report was of no value.
Their foster son was also thereafter “suddenly” taken to a psychologist who came out and told them the child said a woman had touched his penis and played with it.
The boy was thereafter removed from their care, with the social worker telling them it was because the boy did not look well cared for because of his long hair.
The grandfather, however, explained that the boy’s hair was long to hide his misshapen head.
He believed this was the result of the boy’s grandmother holding him incorrectly in her arm when he was a baby. He said the boy had been placed in their care after his previous foster parents returned him to the CSC because he cried solidly for nine months.
The man said he had approached the children’s court magistrate after the children were taken away and had, at the magistrate’s recommendation, laid a rape charge with the police in connection with his foster daughter.
“I’m of the opinion that they were removed unlawfully. If the girl had received therapy in time, they would not have been put through more trauma,” he said.
The accused are seeking bail, but the state maintains they will interfere with the ongoing investigation and that their lives might even be in danger if they were released on bail.
The bail hearing was postponed to Tuesday next week.
The eight accused will meanwhile be held in custody at the Kameeldrift police station. — Sapa