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By Zelda Venter
High Court Reporter
It has been seven years of hell for two of Cezanne Visser's victims, and while she faces seven years in jail for her part in the sexual abuse of children and young women, the two girls who were taken from a children's home in Pretoria will be haunted by grim memories of what happened to them for the rest of their lives.
Not even the single tear which trickled down Visser's cheek as she sat in the dock awaiting her fate softened the hearts of the victims, now young women.
While neither would say whether they would ever forgive her, both were adamant that they were happy that she was being sent to jail.
The two were in the Pretoria High Court yesterday to witness Visser - also nicknamed "Advocate Barbie" - being sentenced. Both said it was a relief that the trial was now over.
The younger of the two, who was 11 when she fell prey to Visser and her then-lover Dirk Prinsloo, said although Visser may go to jail, it did not make up for the pain and suffering she had to endure. "It was a terrible time; in fact it was hell. But her going to jail for seven years is better than nothing. Her jail sentence will hopefully give me a new beginning and help me to gather together all the pieces of my life."
The victim, now 18 and who lives with her boyfriend, blamed Visser for the fact that she did not complete school. She said: "I am still very emotional. The pain will not go away soon; it will always be there, but I am trying to handle it."
She said it was difficult to see Visser again after all these years, although she had kept abreast of the case by reading the newspapers and keeping all the stories. She had received counselling, but it didn't help much. "I am now trying to process it all by myself."
She said she had learnt not to trust anybody, and her mission was to become a motivational speaker and help other children in the same position.
"I was very vulnerable when they took me home for a weekend. From the start I was not keen on visiting them."
This victim, who was 18 months of age when her mother dropped her off at the children's home, said that in her eyes Visser and Prinsloo (now in jail in Belarus) were equally guilty.
The other victim, now 23, dreamt of becoming a lawyer. When the couple took her for a weekend visit, she was ecstatic, as she thought they as advocates could make her dream come true. "After what they did to me I no longer want to be associated with that profession," she said.
"I am angry and disappointed. How could they (Prinsloo and Visser) do such things to children? Did they think because we were in an orphanage we had no rights?"
The pretty brunette said she still had nightmares about her ordeal and she woke up in a cold sweat. "At least the trial is over and I no longer have to see her face in the newspapers."
Although she shed a tear while awaiting her sentence, Visser put on a brave smile for her mother, Susan Lemmer, after hearing her fate. She then held out her hands compliantly to a policewoman to be cuffed and walked down to the holding cells.
At first Lemmer too kept a brave face, but after an adjournment she broke down and sobbed bitterly.
During sentencing both she and Visser sat stone-faced and listened to the judge blasting Visser for what she had done to her victims. Acting Judge Chris Eksteen said that while Prinsloo's hold over her was a mitigating factor, he had no choice but to send her to jail. After sentencing Visser was released on R10 000 bail pending an application to appeal.
Meanwhile, attorney Pieter van R Coetzee, who kept a watching brief at court on behalf of the children, will establish what their legal rights are before possible considering any further legal action.