'I saw Robbie Klay being fondled'

2008-02-13 08:04

Johannesburg - An eyewitness says he saw how singer and actor Robbie Klay was fondled.

"I was in the 'uncle's' house at the same time as Robbie Klay, who was 12 at the time."

"The uncle frequently grabbed Robbie from behind, and pressing him to him tightly, he would say - 'I love this child so much'".

"Sometimes when he did it he would press his mouth against Robbie's neck."

That's how a prominent member of the entertainment industry, who's principally on the production side, responded on Wednesday to reports in Beeld newspaper on Monday and Tuesday, in which Klay spoke openly of "the uncle", as he called him, who abused him sexually between the ages of 10 and 17.

Because "the uncle" is well-known in South Africa's entertainment industry, the matter is still very sensitive and the person does not want to be named- "in any case, not before someone else names 'the uncle'".

"But I know who 'the uncle' is, because I worked very closely with him for many years."

"Even before I saw him in his house holding Robbie right in front of me, I knew that he had an obsession with boys."

"I knew this because he became quite obsessed with the young leading actor in the movie Free Willy."

"There was a giant cardboard cut-out of the young actor that he'd had specially made, standing in his house.

"He also had an obsession with the actor (Wynand Uys) who played the lead in the Afrikaans movie Dirkie (one of the films made by the late Jamie Uys)"

"He was continually asking if I knew where he could get hold of a video of that movie."

"He said he'd be willing to pay anything for it."

Klay confirmed all these accounts on Tuesday.

"The uncle loved to hold me, especially when I was younger."

"I always had to stand next to him."

"I saw the Free Willy poster myself and I knew that 'the uncle' tried desperately to get hold of a copy of the movie Dirkie, and did in the end.

"In fact, he had photos of quite a few young actors in his house."

- Beeld