Son begged cops not to take him home

A picture showing the chaotic house of horrors. Picture:

A picture showing the chaotic house of horrors. Picture:

Published Jun 4, 2016

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Pretoria - The 13-year-old son of the so-called Springs monster was so terrified when the police went to fetch him in Warden that he begged them not to take him back home.

He was so afraid that he refused to get into the back of the car with his mother. He sat in the front, on the lap of a sympathetic Springs community member, who had gone along to fetch the boy.

Warrant Officer Tracy Wentzel, of the child protection unit told the high court in Pretoria on Friday that they had received a complaint from a neighbour that the boy had been assaulted by his father.

The child had fled to the neighbours after his father severely assaulted him. He had two black eyes and cuts and bruises to his face. His father had forcibly removed him from the neighbours and took him to a family member in Warden, to hide him from the police.

The 36-year-old father admitted in court to assaulting his son, but said he was afraid he would be in trouble with the police if they saw the child’s injuries. He told the police his son had run away.

The action of the neighbours brought an end to years of alleged abuse and torture the five siblings apparently suffered at the hands of their father, while their mother, also 36, did nothing to protect them.

Wentzel and members of her unit went to the house in Springs on May 23, 2014, to look for the boy. They took sniffer dogs along to try and locate him. “We searched inside and outside of the house, because we received information that the boy had drowned and that his body was covered in a blanket and that it was hidden.”

She said the parents had various “stories” about where the boy was. The mother eventually spilled the beans and said he was in Warden with family. A member of the SAPS in Warden fetched the child and took him to his home.

Wentzel, a community member and the mother went to fetch him.

“When I saw him in the dark, I immediately noticed his two (black) eyes and bruises. The terrified child hid behind the policeman and begged me not to take him home. I told him he is now safe, he will never go back home.”

The child eventually agreed to go with them, but refused to sit with his mother on the back seat. He sat on the lap of the woman in the front seat and eventually fell asleep. He was later reunited with his siblings at a place of safety.

The father was arrested and remained in jail, while the mother was allowed to stay with family members.

Wentzel said that when she earlier searched the house in Springs, looking for the child, she discovered several vibrators in the bedroom, as well as a lot of pornographic DVDs. In the lounge was a black suitcase, with an array of other sex toys inside.

Hidden behind a couch was also an array of fireworks, with nails attached to them.

Warrant Officer Jacobus Smit, who initially fetched the child from his uncle’s home in Warden, testified that the child sobbed bitterly when he put him in the car. His had black eyes and bruises on his face. Even his ears had cuts.

“The child cried and did not want to talk to me. I bought him sweets and a cold drink, but he would have none of it.

“I took him home because I had a son the same age.”

Smit said he asked the family in Warden what had happened to the boy. They told him that his father said he and his sister had a fist fight and that she had hit him, while wearing boxing gloves.

A concerned Judge Eben Jordaan earlier asked a social worker about the current well-being of the children. He was told that they were extremely close to each other and that they couldn’t be split. The problem was that no foster family could house five children and if they were to go to an orphanage, they would be split up.

They are now living with elderly family members in foster care. They are being assisted with their education through donations from the community and the government is paying a grant to the family to take care of them.

The trial proceeds on Monday.

Pretoria News Weekend

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