A crèche principal from Bronkhorstspruit, who was arrested for alleged child abuse in November, again appeared in court on January 13.
Elsa Geyser, the owner and principal of Little Royals Pre-primary School and Daycare, briefly appeared in the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court.
She faces charges of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and common assault.
These charges came after the publication of two videos on social media. Streeknuus has copies of the footage. The videos were shot by a staff member, who wanted to remain anonymous and was sent to the children’s parents.
One of the videos, recorded from inside a building, shows two toddlers at an outdoor jungle gym being spanked with a wooden plank for apparently taking toys out of the classroom.
The other video shows a girl being repeatedly rapped over the fingers with a pencil and scolded for colouring in with an orange pencil instead of a red one. The child, who sat at a table with other learners, was then threatened that a ruler would be used on her fingers the next time she used the wrong pencil.
Geyser was arrested on November 14 and first appeared in court two days later. She was told to return to court on January 3.
The case was postponed to March 2.
The school in Cultura Park has been closed since Geyser’s arrest. More charges could be added because the investigation is ongoing.
