Teacher acquitted in sex case

2003-09-08 11:21

Bloemfontein - A former Free State teacher has been acquitted in the Bloemfontein regional court on Monday of indecently assaulting one of his pupils.

Magistrate Magda Jacobs, nevertheless, said in her judgment that Japie Britz, 50, had discredited the teaching profession. "His behaviour cannot be approved of," she said. "He brought a dark cloud of suspicion over colleagues."

Britz was accused of kissing and fondling a 16-year-old pupil one night in his car after a hockey game. At the time he was a popular teacher at the Bloemfontein high school Sand du Plessis. He was arrested in September last year.

Jacobs found it a proven fact there was an intimate relationship over a period between Britz and the girl. They had discussed personal matters and wrote letters and poems to each other.

Kissed and fondled It was also proven that Britz had kissed the girl and fondled her breasts on the night of the alleged indecent assault, the magistrate ruled.

However, the state had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the assault as alleged by the girl. Jacobs questioned the girl's earlier testimony that she did not want to encourage a more intimate relationship with her teacher.

Her behaviour after Britz had declared his love for her indicated "that she had not been so unhappy with the situation as she pretended to be". Jacobs also dismissed Britz's account that his only motive until the night of the alleged assault was to motivate and develop the girl.

Not a teenager "He is not an inexperienced teenager any more," she said in her ruling. "He knew very well that their teacher-pupil-relationship was systematically becoming more intimate and that he was playing with fire.

" Britz earlier denied indecent assault. He admitted to kissing and fondling the girl in his car.

- SAPA