Creche teacher guilty of beating boy

Published Aug 27, 2015

Share

Cape Town - A student teacher narrowly escaped prison for hitting a five-year-old boy with a paint brush, leaving him with a 7cm gash on his leg.

It’ is believed Natasha Konstabel pulled down the boy’s pants before assaulting him.

The attack happened in full view of other children, who were allegedly told by the teacher not to tell their parents about it.

The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of assault in the Bredasdorp Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and was sentenced to three months in jail, which was suspended for three years.

In her plea agreement, Konstabel admitted she had hit little Rogan Mentor, now six, with a large paint brush on his leg.

Her attorney argued that she was trying to break up a fight between Rogan and another child on 8 May 2014 at the Babbel and Krabbel Creche where she was a student teacher at the time.

The magistrate, however, pointed out that tussles between children are common and that corporal punishment is against the law.

Mom Carmen Mentor, 40, says she discovered the nasty open gash on her son’s leg when he took a shower that night.

It was his twin brother Rolan who spilled the beans.

“The metal that holds the bristles together probably caused the wound,” the mother says.

She says the children were all laughing at Rogan while he stood in his underpants.

When she went to the creche the next day, principal Geraldine Hendricks said she was not aware of the matter.

Hendricks on Wednesday told the Daily Voice she doubts the boy sustained the injuries at school.

“That child would have screamed but nobody heard anything. And when I asked him where the teacher hit him he showed on the front of his leg [and not the back where the injury was],” she stated.

She had reported the matter to the School Governing Body as well as Social Services.

Rogan’s father Eugene Mentor, 43, says he decided to lay charges because procedures weren’t followed.

SGB chairperson Hendriena Jantjies admits that she wasn’t informed about the incident immediately.

Meetings were later held to discuss the matter with the parents.

“We are sad that things worked out this way,” says Jantjies.

The Mentors are satisfied with the sentence.

“We didn’t want revenge or anything. We just want to prevent that something like this happens to other children,” says Carmen.

* Comments have been closed to protect the identity of the minor or minors mentioned in the article.

Daily Voice

Related Topics: