Springs monster awaits sentencing
Dad guilty of rape, attempted murder
The couple who kept their five children locked up in what was dubbed the Springs “House of Horrors” were yesterday found guilty of a string of charges.
Four years after the traumatic details of what unfolded in the house first made headlines‚ Judge Eben Jordaan at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria went through the evidence presented in the trial. It included how the couple’s children were burnt with blow torches‚ tied into a closet and kept handcuffed to a pool table.
The court heard of how the father had cuffed his son and pepper-sprayed him‚ dunked him in water and deprived him of food. The 11-year-old boy had, on some occasions, been suspended by his hands and feet by chains from poles‚ and was whipped and beaten with a knobkerrie.
For this‚ the man was found guilty of attempted murder.
The court also heard how the man, who is not being named to protect the identity of his children, had sexually abused his daughter by touching her private parts‚ performing oral sex on her and even trying to penetrate her. For this, he was found guilty of rape.
In his lengthy judgment‚ Jordaan detailed how the children were not properly fed‚ had no friends‚ did not attend school and lived in filthy‚ ratinfested conditions.
His wife was found not guilty of the attempted murder of their son. The woman‚ who had kept secret the trauma suffered by her children‚ was found guilty of defeating and obstructing the ends of justice. While she was handed a not-guilty verdict for child abuse‚ she was found guilty of five counts of child neglect.
The horror was initially revealed when the 11-year-old boy escaped from their home and alerted neighbours.
Yesterday‚ one of the couple’s children was in court to hear the verdict and quickly left after proceedings.
The mother was released on R2 000 bail several years ago. Her bail conditions, include that she does not have any contact with her children.
The matter returns to court on October 1 for sentencing. The man remains behind bars.