NELSPRUIT – A couple applied for bail today since they are being charged with various sexual crimes relating to their own eight-year-old daughter.
The wife (36) and husband (35) appeared in the Nelspruit District Court and may not be identified as they are related to the victim.
They are being charged with rape, sexual assault, displaying pornographic material to a minor and failing to report a sexual offence and omitting a child to view sexual deeds.
The couple was arrested on Thursday at their house after police had received a doctor’s report and the victim’s statement. WO Adriaan Odendaal testified the couple were embroiled in a custody battle that had given interim custody of the child to the grandmother (parent of the mother).
He said after the child had gone to the parents for the weekend, she told a therapist who was helping her with her reading, that her parent had molested her.
Odendaal stated the child had allegedly been subjected to a long period of sexual abuse. The victim apparently told Odendaal her father had raped her anally and both her mother and father had viewed pornographic material in her presence. He said there were also indications that the parents had engaged in sexual activities in front of her. He stated he met the victim and the grandmother at Rob Ferreira Hospital where the doctor had found positive signs of molestation.
The following day the victim gave a statement and at 13:30 he went to the couple’s home where they reside with the man’s parents. Odendaal continued by testifying he then searched their room and confiscated two DVDs as well as the father’s computer. He said the girl had claimed she had viewed pornography on the computer.
Magistrate Ms Christa du Plessis stated that, because the parents were being charged with a schedule-six offence, they could only be granted bail under the strictest conditions.
She stated that, under no circumstances were the parents allowed near their daughter nor were any of the father’s family allowed contact with the child. “No contact is allowed directly or indirectly whether it be at the child’s school or text messages.” She also demanded the accused hand in their passports within two days.
Bail was set at R1 000 each. The matter was postponed for further investigation until April 8.
