School faces lawsuit over son’s ‘sex jokes’
Teacher who ’mixes’ with boys at centre of legal tussle
A FREE State couple are suing their son’s private school and his English teacher for R100 000 after she posted a comment to colleagues on WhatsApp accusing the boy of making “massively inappropriate sexual jokes” in her presence.
The legal battle has sparked claims that the teacher has an “inappropriate” relationship with male pupils. She is accused of wearing short skirts at school, flirting with pupils, spending time at her home with a teenage boy and calling a Grade 11 female pupil a “ho” (whore) and others sluts.
Johnny and Ellen Abatzoglou, who own a string of fast-food franchises in Welkom, sent a letter of demand via lawyers to St Dominic’s College this week, alleging that the remarks by their Grade 11 son’s teacher, Bella du Toit, had defamed him.
But the Catholic school has defended Du Toit, threatening the couple with a R1-million counterclaim for defaming her, the school and headmaster Shane Gaffney.
Board of governors chairman Steven Green said although there was “no credible evidence” to suggest the allegations against Du Toit were true, the school was investigating “in the interests of the broader St Dominic’s community”.
Some of the allegations against Du Toit, who teaches grades 9, 10 and 11, were raised in the Abatzoglous’ letter.
The message, posted by Du Toit on a teachers’ WhatsApp group on June 2, read: “[The boy’s] behaviour during our rehearsal session today is appalling. He is distracted, acting very childish and making massively inappropriate sexual jokes in front of me.”
The Abatzoglous said Du Toit’s remarks were intended to mean their son “is of low moral fibre and poor character”. They deny he made the jokes.
Green has denied the WhatsApp was defamatory.
The Abatzoglous’ lawyer, Casper Kruger, in the letter of demand, refers to Du Toit’s “untoward behaviour” to pupils. He says the Abatzoglous were told by teachers and parents that she called a female Grade 11 pupil a “ho” and fellow pupils “sluts” on casual day this year.
The letter says the Abatzoglous have received reports that Du Toit was involved in the “illegal sexual grooming of various male pupils” and that a pupil’s mother had reported this to the school on April 20 but that no action had been taken.
Ellen told the Sunday Times their son had learning challenges and she had gone to the school to request concessions, such as extra time, because he has reading dyslexia.
She would remove him from the school after the July holidays and home-school him.
The other mother who laid a complaint about Du Toit has given an affidavit to Kruger. In it she said she noticed that her son would walk with Du Toit from class to where the cars were parked after school. “I noticed base and red lipstick on the collar of [my son’s] school shirt. Only teachers wear makeup to school.”
During the December holidays, her daughter had dropped off her son at Du Toit’s complex.
According to her affidavit, she first reported the “matter of communication” between her son and Du Toit to a teacher at the school on April 20.
“Three weeks later, she [the teacher] phoned me and asked if I had e-mailed Mr Gaffney, but I did not because I am scared of intimidation towards my children at school. I have been told that two teachers had reported it to Mr Gaffney and one warned Miss du Toit to stop mixing with [my son].”
A pupil told the Sunday Times this week that after the school’s Valentine’s Day dance in February, pupils in Du Toit’s class were discussing the bash when she told them: “You girls were dressed like hoes yesterday.”
Other girls said they felt uncomfortable about Du Toit wearing short dresses. “She doesn’t dress the way a teacher is supposed to dress and she’s very flirtatious with male students in matric. I am 18 but I wouldn’t dress like that,” one said.
In response to a list of questions the Sunday Times sent to the school and Du Toit, Green confirmed the college was investigating the claims but did not respond to specific questions. Du Toit did not respond.