A 58-year-old grandfather on Tuesday testified in his bail hearing in Pretoria North that no child had ever been molested and no child porn video was ever made in his house.
This was despite the state confronting him with evidence that his two young foster children both said they had been sexually molested by the grandfather, his wife and six of their family members.
Prosecutor Tanya Carstens put it to the grandfather that there was a statement saying the children’s hands and mouths became tired and tasted bad because of the sexual acts they had to perform on some of the accused’s penises.
To this, the grandfather replied: “Not in my house. How can you tell me I made sex videos when there’s no such thing? Those things didn’t happen in my house.”
Asked why his two young foster children would tell the same story of being sexually molested, despite being sent to different places of safety, he suggested that it was “speculation” and that the mentally retarded boy must have been told what to say.
The grandfather said he was very upset on being told that the girl had been molested at his house by his son-in-law “and little boys”, because he had not expected something like that.
This was after the child was sent for a psychological assessment earlier this year.
‘Everything went red’
He was angry, but had not discussed this “shocking” statement with the girl or his son-in-law because the psychologist had told him not to speak to anyone about it as there was no proof yet, he said.
He claimed that after his foster son went to see the psychologist in August this year, the boy had told him the woman “had played with his general (penis), but told him it was called a tollieman”.
“I was so angry everything went red, but I could not do anything about it,” he said, adding that if he had confronted her he might have committed murder and “would not have been standing here for these little charges”.
When Magistrate Pierre Wessels asked him whether he did not regard child rape as a serious charge and did he realise he could be sentenced to life imprisonment if found guilty, he answered: “I’m innocent in this case.”
The grandfather claimed he had suspected from the start that his foster daughter had been raped before she was placed in his care at the age of 16 months in 2004.
When she came to them the first time, she was dressed in a dirty babygrow with semen on it, but when he complained to the social worker about this and the child’s strange behaviour, he was told to burn the clothes and that her behaviour would improve.
He claimed her behaviour deteriorated to such an extent that she pushed objects into her private parts and “could not leave little boys alone”, but that neither his social worker nor the police wanted to do anything about it.
Certified mentally disabled
He said he had taken the girl to a district surgeon in 2006, who confirmed that the child had been molested and earlier this year certified that she was “mentally disabled” after seeing her for a second time.
Dr Jan Zeilinga, a general practitioner, however testified that he had only seen the little girl once in 2006, when he found signs that the girl had been molested only a few days before.
She had pointed to her private parts and told him men had hurt her there.
He had told the child’s foster father to take her to the police immediately and that she needed counselling.
He had not seen the child again, but stated in a later report that she was emotionally disturbed because of what he had been told.
“I did not make a finding that she was mentally disturbed. I am not a psychologist.
“But all children who have been sexually molested and who don’t receive counselling have emotional disturbances,” he said.
According to the doctor, he had written the second report after the father came to him and complained that the welfare had taken the girl away from him; the police did not want to take the case, that the child was unhappy and they wanted to get her back.
The bail hearing of the grandfather and his seven co-accused — who face charges ranging from rape to manufacturing child pornography — will continue on Monday next week. — Sapa