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Creche case assaulter to be sentenced on Thursday

The woman who assaulted three children at the Ninnies Neurons crèche in Carletonville will be sentenced on Thursday, 10 September.

Nelly Senwametsi, a former employee of Ninnies Neurons crèche in Carletonville, will be sentenced in the Oberholzer Magistrates Court after previously being convicted of two counts of common assault and one count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm of three four-year-old children.

In three separate videos that went viral on 4 April 2019 Senwametsi is shown smashing and bashing the toddlers.

According to the organisation Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) it has taken them more than a year of support to the mothers as well as pressure by the organisation to the NPA and SAPS to reach this point.

The organisation is also lobbying to get Senwametsi sentenced to the minimum prescribed sentence of ten years.

“The videos when analysed show the three important aspects of aggravating circumstances that would support a court to apply the prescribed minimum sentences – pattern, duration and severity. There is no evidence to support that Senwametsi acted spontaneously as she on three different occasions abused defenceless toddlers this establishes an unaddressed pattern of abuse behaviour which was shrouded in secrecy by at the very least the videographer who in all three videos is acknowledged by Senwametsi but failed to report the abuse. The fact that the videographer held onto the videos for purposes of extorting the owner are a clear indication that both the videographer and Senwametsi were well aware of their actions and failure to report the abuse was a clear act that compromised their ability to otherwise protect children.

In the sentencing we want the magistrate to consider the vulnerability of the children shown in these videos and the pattern of abusive behaviour displayed by Senwametsi. We also want the message that is sent by the court to be one that strengthens the provisions of Section 110 both (1) and (2) of the Children Act. Further we want the court to apply their mind to the effect of the abuse on the cognitive and neurological development of toddlers up to the age of five and how Senwametsi’s abuse – particularly directed to the head of the children will have lasting physiological and psychological impacts on the children. The young boys’ lack of crying and emotional response as he is being hit shows the emotional trauma of abuse on a developing child,” a spokesperson for the organisation says.

 

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Adele Louw

Adele has been in the community media since 1997, first in Mpumalanga and since 2008 in Gauteng, and is passionate about giving a voice to residents of all communities.

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