Two arrested for alleged sexual offences against children

Two men were arrested last week for sexual offences against children.

A barman was arrested on Tuesday, August 11 for sexual assault.

The alleged victim is a 13-year-old boy.

The man applied for bail on August 18.

The outcome was not finalised by the time going to press.

In a second incident a well-known teacher was arrested on Friday, August 14 for child grooming.

The alleged victim, in this case, is a 15-year-old boy.

The teacher appeared in Witbank Magistrate Court on Monday, August 17, and was released on R1 500 bail.

The case was postponed to October 7.

Brig Leonard Hlathi, the provincial police spokesperson said child sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse where offenders use their power be it physical, financial or emotional over a child or young person, or a false identity, to sexually or emotionally abuse them.

“Two cases in one week is very alarming,” Brig Hlathi said.

Brig Hlathi urges parents to build strong relationships with their children, “Children need to feel emotionally safe in their family. This level of emotional safety allows children to identify and be able to express that which they feel uncomfortable about, which is an important aspect of protecting children from all forms of abuse.”

Local child psychologist, Dr Abie Smit explained what child grooming is.

He said child grooming refers to the constellation of psychological manipulations and actions taken by a predatory adult, meant to reduce a child’s fears and inhibitions, as a prelude to sexual abuse or exploitation by the predator or his or her associates.

“Education implies that we teach our children to become happy but responsible adults.  Unfortunately, there is something like negative education that teaches our children the wrong things which put a responsible and happy adulthood out of their reach. Child-grooming can be defined as negative education, which has a severe impact on adulthood as it has at its core the constellation of psychological manipulations,” he said.

Child-grooming can directly be linked to lifelong and even intergenerational psychological consequences for the child.

The outcome for each child may vary, depending on the child’s age, developmental status, and relationship to the groomer.

The most obvious consequences are distrust and fear, which is the opposite of love.

These manifests in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which becomes more difficult to treat if it is supported by other psychological malfunctions, low self-esteem, with obvious consequences on its own, depression, trouble forming and maintaining relationships.

Children born out of such relationships will most probably have a problematic childhood with the obvious consequences for the next generation, substance abuse – often starting with alcohol abuse but ending up with dangerous habits, unhealthy sexual behaviour or criminal activities

“In light of the above, these children often become passengers in life that need to be monitored and taken care of for the rest of their adult life.  This is just unfair,” Dr Smit said.

*In terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, the identities of the accused may not be published until they have pleaded to the charges.

This is to prevent undue prejudice to a person before the prosecuting authority decides to prosecute.