Court told of dorm wrestling

‘He dragged another boy to another room, but I’m not sure what happened’

THE defence in the trial against former Parktown Boys’ High water polo coach, Collan Rex, put it to the first State witness yesterday that he was merely playing with the boys and not trying to kill them.

During proceedings at the High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court yesterday, State prosecutor Arveena Persad called the first witness, a 17-year-old who is currently at college but was a pupil at Parktown Boys’ High in 2015 and 2016 when he was a boarder whom Rex admitted to sexually assaulting.

Rex, the former assistant water polo coach at the school, has pleaded guilty to 144 counts of sexual assault against 12 of 23 boys who are complainants in the case.

He has pleaded not guilty to a further 183 counts, which include rape, attempted murder and assault.

The boy told the court that he recalled Rex rubbing up against him and touching his private parts.

“Is there anything else the accused did to you?” Persad asked.

“He choked me… he would put me in a headlock,” the witness said. The witness then demonstrated to the court how he was choked.

The boy said on multiple occasions, Rex would come into their rooms after a study session and wrestle with some of the boys.

He said when the other boys would see that he couldn’t manage to fight Rex off, then he would stop.

He said this happened about 10 times in 2016, when he was in Grade 9.

The boy said he remembered the incidents happening in the dorm rooms and on one occasion in the water polo ball room where Rex closed the door behind him and wrestled him to a point where he couldn’t breathe.

Persad then asked the 17-year-old about a video that was taken.

“We were going to a water polo club match and waiting in the hostel’s relaxing room and Rex started wrestling us. He dragged another boy to another room, but I’m not sure what happened after that.

“He kicked another boy in the chest and was lying with us, touching our genitals.”

Defence lawyer William Robertse questioned the boy about the circumstances that led to Rex putting him in a headlock.

“Were you playing with one another or did he have a squabble with you?”

“It was not a fight. He just picked you randomly,” the boy responded.

The boy told the court that at some point he had had a close relationship with Rex till things changed.

The case continues.