Ex-teacher raped me – former pupil

Citizen Reporter

Until recently, the victim of a now 61-year-old retired principal believed his rapist and former teacher had died.

Sunday Times reported the victim, who is now in his late 40s and has been living in the US since 1996, discovered two weeks ago that the teacher who assaulted him was still alive from a Facebook friend who found a picture of him on social media.

The art teacher at a prominent primary school in the Eastern Cape in the early ’80s allegedly raped the then 12-year-old standard 5 pupil.

The Sunday paper details a string of e-mails, beginning on October 22, when the victim wrote to his former teacher stating, “you may have forgotten who I am but I am haunted by the mere thought of you, and have been ever since you came to my bed that one night and then took me to your room and sexually violated and raped me. I was 12 years old! You took advantage of me and in sexually assaulting me, you effectively destroyed my youth and life forever. You were my art teacher and I used to love art. Used to love spending time in your room building sculptures. I have hated art and sculpting ever since.”

The former pupil said he had not reported the incident because he blamed himself.

However, after finding out that the teacher was not dead, the victim sent a sworn statement to the police’s family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit in Mossel Bay (where the former teacher currently resides) lastThursday.

The accused, who retired as a primary school principal in February, confirmed the e-mails seen by Sunday Times were authentic.

Although he admits in one e-mail that the victim’s account of what happened “is very accurate”, he told the paper he had not raped the boy.

Instead, he admitted to fondling him and another pupil.

In other e-mails, he admitted to choosing the victim because he was “trusting of me, all alone and vulnerable”, being involved in a “relationship” with another pupil that he described as “more intense” and that what he did was sickening.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie said an indecent assault and sodomy case had been registered and the docket would be transferred to King William’s Town, as the alleged offences took place there.

The victim was chosen because he was ‘trusting of me, all alone and vulnerable’...

Retired principal and accused rapist