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Paedophile hides in fear
17/05/2007 07:57 - (SA)
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| An angry crowd howls for the blood of convicted paedophile Niel Henry Herman who had to take shelter in the regional court building. (Denzil Maregele, Die Burger) |
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Carryn-Ann Nel, Die Burger
Cape Town - A fashion photographer and convicted child molester from Tamboerskloof hid in the regional court building here for four hours on Wednesday for fear of being attacked by a baying crowd outside.
Niel Henry Herman, 45, was accompanied by police officers when he left at lunchtime, after he had appeared earlier on Wednesday morning.
Herman, the father of a baby boy, was found guilty earlier this year of indecently assaulting a girl who is now 10 years old.
According to the charge sheet, he indecently assaulted the girl from 2003 to May 2004.
The case was postponed and he is scheduled to be sentenced in two weeks' time.
High-school pupils and child-rights campaigners were among those at court from early on to jeer at him on Wednesday morning, waving placards that read, among other things, "You Rapist".
Daughter still confused
"You were brave enough to show your penis to the girl. Be brave enough to show your face," shouted the group.
The 10-year-old and her family were also outside the court on Wednesday.
The crowd later grew tired of waiting for him and left before he appeared outside court again.
The girl's mother, who was in a relationship with him and has a two-year-old son by him, says her daughter is still confused at times.
She said Herman, who photographed famous models in the 1980s, had a (psychological) hold on her daughter.
"My child is still in therapy. She has a low self-image and goes through phases of depression.
"At the next appearance, it will be exactly three years since he began molesting her.
"It makes me so angry that he denies everything. He doesn't have the guts to admit his mistakes," she said.
Parents urged to take more care
Gavin Joachims, a child welfare chairperson in Cape Town, said parents should spend more time with their children, empowering them and enabling them to make the best choices for their future.
Linda Ambor of One Love said that parents should not entrust their child without absolute certainty.
"One usually thinks of paedophiles as the monsters who hide in the bushes, but, in reality, they are people we know and trust."
Regional magistrate Wilma van der Merwe postponed the case to May 30.
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