WRAP | Police re-open case against ex-St Andrew’s coach accused of sexual grooming

Niemand says they wont be able to use his Australian conviction.

"After investigation, we will hopefully have our own conviction. It will help as the background but we are not going to use it in our courts of law. We must start from scratch with our investigation."

- Tebogo Monama

Levitt says before naming perpetrators, it is important to investigate the cases and ensure the facts are correct.

"Even if you are sued with defamation, you can say 'bring it on.'"

- Tebogo Monama

Lamprecht says Carlese should be placed on the sexual offenders list.

- Tebogo Monama

Jordan says at Bryanston High School a netball coach was targeting players.

"We found he was being moved around different schools. It took a mother to open a charge."

They found he was also not registered with the South African Council of Educators. She says when they confront schools, they usually open criminal charges against activists.

"Nobody checks half of these people because they come in nepotistically," said Lamprecht.

- Tebogo Monama

Niemand says there are several coaches under investigation and says they can't mention the names of the coaches yet.

"We don't have information into a syndicate that sources pornography from teachers." She says they are investigating the issue.

She says there's a WhatsApp group where the teachers discuss how to groom children. 

Lamprecht: "I can say,  these teachers speak about these children to each other."

- Tebogo Monama

Levitt says: "The effect of sexual abuse on a person is worse than murder. You are changing the trajectory of the person you abuse."

- Tebogo Monama

The many cases against the man charged alongside Paul Kennedy, accused of running a child sex ring

The 53-year-old man charged with more than 730 counts of rape, trafficking, sexual assault and child pornography, relating to a child sex ring that he allegedly ran, has been accused of multiple other crimes, also involving children.

Lawyer Ian Levitt says perpetrators need to be named and shamed to avoid further abuse. "An allegation should not be a conviction. If there are a lot of allegations, that person must be held to account." He speaks about senior advocate Paul Kennedy.

"Even after [being] charged, he was allowed to work as an acting judge. In the highest offices in government, these perpetrators are held to high esteem? Until when?"

- Tebogo Monama

Hobkirk says: "These perpetrators move around easily. They get jobs without background checks. We cannot rely on lethargic gatekeepers. As Parktown parents and the boys that are healing, we were told that this is what happens at boys schools. These children's lives,  their blood is on your hand. However long it takes, we will make this uncomfortable for you."

- Tebogo Monama

Former Parktown Boys' High assistant coach gets 23 years in jail

A former Parktown Boys' High School assistant water polo coach has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault and an additional three years for common assault. 

Collan Rex, 22, initially faced 327 charges. However, he pleaded guilty to 144 counts of sexual assault and 12 counts of common assault. The court acquitted him of some of the charges. 

Hobkirk says:

"Our children need guidelines to ensure them safety in hostels and sports." She says elite schools are more worried about their reputation than dealing with sexual abuse. "In the silence and secrecy, children's lives are being damaged. We have to teach our children to use their voices to communicate to tell their parents and caregivers."

- Tebogo Monama.

Michelle Hobkirk, a mother of one of the children abused at Parktown boys high by water polo coach Collan Rex, says the culture’s of schools should change. 

"Children were silenced. How can 30 boys be abused and not one child speak out?"

- Tebogo Monama 

Wiggett says: "There is a huge number of people involved that we can't identify yet. I am pleased that as activists we can try and get justice for 100s of boys who were abused by water polo coaches."

- Tebogo Monama

Niemand says they hope to make an arrest soon. "We have the senior management in the SAPS that won't let this go. This seems like a serial organised syndicate targeting the most vulnerable. We are going to make sure they are prosecuted."

- Tebogo Monama 

Colonel Heila Niemand of Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit of the SAPS said they have reopened the St Andrews case against MacKenzie.

“We are seeing it in a very serious light. These boys have left school already - they are grown men already. It takes time for me to convince them and make them realise the importance to speak to me.”

She says they are also investigating crimes against Dean Carelse. The water polo coach was deported from Australia after being found guilty of child abuse, possession of child porn, and grooming.

- Tebogo Monama 

Jordan says: "A number of interviews have been done and we hope that arrests will be made soon."

- Tebogo Monama

SA school teacher held in Australia on child porn charges deported to SA

Former Grey High School First XV rugby and water polo coach Dean Carelse, who was convicted in Australia after being found with child pornography, is back in South Africa, News24 can confirm.

Jordan says water polo coaches that have been exposed have faced no consequences. She announces an organised crime investigation into sexual abuse into water polo coaches

"Included in the investigation are three men who worked at Gqerbeha, Makhanda. One of the teachers in the schools has been found guilty in Australia."

- Tebogo Monama 

Miranda Jordan of Women and Men Against Child Abuse says they want to dispel the myths that some children are safe from sexual abuse. "the schools we are going to refer to are seen as the bastion of tradition and education. it is within the hallowed halls o tradition that we need to realise that all children are vulnerable to abuse."

- Tebogo Monama

Caption: Deon Wiggett (left) is joined by officials from Women and Men against child abuse, to announce a criminal investigation into a ring of alleged predatory teachers.

Photo: Tebogo Monama/News24

Lamprecht says there is a pattern of "career offenders" who chose to work with children. "These are very bright people who make their life gaining sexual favours from children."

- Tebogo Monama

Lamprecht:

“These people who choose to have sex with children it is what they like? It is what arouses them?”

He says using excuses that the offenders were abused as children was unfair on victims. He says adults manipulate children into sexual abuse.

“The fact that these people blur the professional and personal boundaries is a problem. These people have to groom the parents and schools first. They do this by having favourites and then isolating them from their peers.”  

– Tebogo Monama

“If you want to abuse children, coach water polo. It is the easiest way to get access to children’s genitals.”

He says luckily schools are starting to take precautions to protect pupils. Luke Lamprecht, advocacy head at Women and Men Against Child Abuse, says one of the myths is that there are more girls than boys being abused.

“There is no language for the victimhood of boys. There is a disincentive for boys to report. There is homophobia, and why did you not fight back.”

He said it was also important to realise men are not the only abusers. Lamprecht says there are cases of women water polo coaches abusing children.

– Tebogo Monama

Wiggett says he has been investigating the abuse of elite athletes in schools.

“They are a group that is extremely vulnerable to being groomed and abused. What we think as the coolest kids in school are extraordinarily vulnerable when it comes to sexual abuse.”

Investigations spanned Gauteng, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State.

Among others, the water polo coaches worked at Reddam schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town; Grey College in Bloemfontein; Grey High and Pearson High in Gqeberha; St Andrew’s College and DSG in Makhanda; and Westville Boys’ High in Durban.

– Tebogo Monama

St Andrew's should have reported David Mackenzie allegations to police, report finds

St Andrew’s College staff should have reported misconduct allegations against former water polo coach David Mackenzie to the police, and the South African Council for Educators (SACE), an independent review has found.

Deon Wiggett of My Only Story speaks about the podcast series. He says the podcast managed to identify a number of coaches that targeted pupils including St Andrews school polo coach David Mackenzie. He was found by a review board to have been grooming boys while employed at the prestigious all-boys school. The claims against Mackenzie came after the death of 16-year-old Thomas Kruger.

- Tebogo Monama 

The Women and Men Against Child Abuse and SAPS are holding a press conference to announce an organised crime investigation into a ring of allegedly predatory teachers and sport coaches who targeted elite athletes. In the last couple of years, there have been reports of pupils who have been abused by their coaches at elite schools. 

- Tebogo Monama