Crèche abuse case

Allegations of child abuse have surfaced at an Afrikaans crèche in Ferndale.

Frederick Jansen van Rensburg, an attorney representing the crèche, has confirmed that criminal action has been instituted against two of his client’s employees accused of abusing a minor.

This was also confirmed by the investigating officer.

Four months after enrolling their son at the crèche, Marius Marx and his wife noticed a change in behaviour in the three-year-old boy.

“He started coming home with marks on his neck, marks on the shoulder, and bruises on his body… We asked him what it was and he said the teacher beat him.

He showed me with his hand what the teacher did to him.”

A concerned Marx rushed to the crèche to inquire about his son’s allegations of which the principal said she suspected they were wounds from playing with other children.

Giving the school the benefit of the doubt, Marx agreed to work with the school to find the cause of his son’s injuries.

According to Marx, the boy became more and more withdrawn. He stopped talking, had problems sleeping, fell behind with speech, and stopped singing and whistling.

“If you raise your voice at him he would duck and cover his face with his hands to protect himself as if you would hit him. We realised something was definitely wrong with the school and we took him out immediately.”

According to Marx, after the boy changed crèches’, he returned to his usual self. “He became comfortable again and he opened up about what had been done to him. He said they made him stand with his nose against the wall when they were naughty.

While he is standing there, if he cried, they would smack him on the back of his head.”

A former teacher at the crèche said she resigned because she could no longer bear to witness the torture of children. “It is terrible there;

I was there for eight months. I told [the owner] and showed her pictures I had taken and she said she will put cameras but she didn’t,” she alleged.

On the other hand, a previous employer of both the accused said one of the accused resigned before a scheduled disciplinary hearing after she was seen hitting a child.

In addition to opening a case against Die Akkerboompie employees Marx reported the matter to the Department of Social Development and Region B Environmental Health practitioners.

An environmental health practitioner conducted an inspection of the crèche on 26 March; and according to an email from a department official to the boy’s mother:

• The crèche did not have a health permit, consent use approval letter and certificate of acceptability

• Window frames and old lamps were found at the back of the premises which could harm the children

• There was no separate fence or physical demarcation between the outdoor play area and the rest of the yard.

The minor has been taken to The Teddy Bear Clinic in Krugersdop for assessment by a social worker.

Investigation in the matter continues.