'Steven posed no threat'

2007-08-06 17:42

Cape Town - Convicted child killer Theunis Olivier should spend the rest of his life in jail, the Cape High Court heard on Monday.

Testifying in court, Eileen Sibiert, mother of the murdered six-year old boy, Steven Siebert, said Olivier deserved to die in prison.

"Steven posed no threat to him (Olivier) and yet he chose to kill him for his own pleasure," she said.

"I wish he could be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole," she said, holding back tears.

Despite having confessed to the murder, indecent assault and kidnapping of Steven, Olivier, who has already been convicted for the crimes, has in the last few days, been trying to convince the court that he deserved a lesser sentence.

In his bid to get off lightly, he told the court how he was molested as a child and developed a multi-personality disorder. He said he was remorseful over what he had done to Steven.

Conscious decision to molest children

However, Siebert said she found it difficult to feel sorry for Olivier.

He might have been abused at a young age, but as a grown up man he made a conscious decision to molest children, Siebert said.

"I wish he had left Steven a molested child than a dead one," she said.

Psychiatrists who evaluated Olivier shortly after his arrest in 2005, also seemed to be of the view that he should not be released early as he was a danger to society.

Testifying in court on Monday, Sean Kaliski, one of the psychiatrists who evaluated Olivier, said results of the evaluation suggested that the convicted killer was a psychopath with a paedophilia complex.

'Keep him away from children'

He told the court that there was no treatment for Olivier's condition and that he would continue with his child molestation spree if he were to be released.

"The only treatment available is to keep him away from children," he said.

Olivier, a Zimbabwean national, spent 15 years in prison in that country for molesting children.

Before his arrest for Steven's murder, he was detained for similar charges in KwaZulu-Natal.

However, the charges were dropped following a bungle.

Steven's family was on holiday in Plettenberg Bay when the six-year old boy disappeared.

His body was later found in dense bushes near the house where Olivier stayed.

- SAPA