Johannesburg - The molestation lawsuit against stockbroker Sidney Frankel is getting personal, with both legal teams flinging insults at each other this week.
The Joburg stockbroker and philanthropist is at the centre of a sex scandal after seven people laid multimillion-rand civil charges against him in June for allegedly abusing them at his Kyalami game farm when they were children.
Some of the claims date back 40 years.
The Star can reveal that criminal charges have been laid by the group’s legal team at four police stations this week.
The aim of the move isn’t to have Frankel arrested but rather to try to change the law on the prescription of sexual charges.
The group’s lawyer, Ian Levitt, said that as the charges date from pre-1994, they would have been defined as sexual assault rather than rape.
That, he said, meant they couldn’t be pursued as they would have prescribed 20 years after each incident.
Levitt said he expected that the National Prosecuting Authority would reject the criminal charges laid, but that would mean he could take the decision to the Constitutional Court in an attempt to change the law on the prescription of such charges.
If the team’s bid succeeds, South Africans who were victims of sexual abuse could – regardless of how long ago – be able to open criminal cases against their abusers.
“It’s going to be a very long process, but my clients are aware of this and want to continue,” said Levitt.
But the lofty goal of altering the law has been muddied with a public catfight.
Earlier this week, Frankel’s lawyer, Billy Gundelfinger, lodged a replying affidavit in the civil matter in which Frankel lambasted the opponent’s legal team, particularly Levitt, and the media for highlighting the case.
The affidavit mentioned a media conference by the legal team and the rights organisation Women and Men Against Child Abuse.
During the conference, Frankel stated: “(Levitt) maliciously and in a grossly unprofessional fashion publicly maligned and ridiculed me and my wife; twice referred to me publicly as a ‘monster’, and disseminated far-reaching and baseless criticisms against me and my wife.”
He added that Levitt was insistent that he was guilty and should be jailed, and the lawyer was using the media to gain exposure for himself.
“It is plain that Levitt is insistent and bent upon conducting the current litigation on behalf of his clients through the media,” he wrote.
On Thursday, Levitt said he was not concerned about such accusations.
He said, however, it was telling that Frankel’s legal team were choosing to attack him rather than the allegations.
With regard to the alleged trial-by-media, Levitt said: “It’s the silence and secrecy that allows child abuse to be perpetrated.
“Child abuse is an outrage and must be brought into the open to give children a voice to be heard.
“Perpetrators must be outed. If they knew that they would be outed publicly, maybe these atrocities would not happen as often.”
Gundelfinger was not immediately available for comment.
The Star