‘Springs monster’ and wife found guilty
IN A far corner and out of sight of her parents sat the now 20-year-old daughter of the so-called “Springs monster” and his former wife, listening as they were convicted on an array of charges involving her and her four siblings.
She was 16 when the police raided their Springs doublestorey home, dubbed the “house of horrors”, in 2014 and arrested her parents. The youngest was 3 at the time.
She, together with her younger brother aged 11, testified against their parents in the North Gauteng High Court yesterday.
The 39-year-old father did not appear shocked when he was convicted on 16 charges, including the rape of his daughter and the abuse and neglect of his five children. He faced 22 charges. The mother was convicted on eight of the 20 charges against her.
The man admitted that he did assault his oldest son, but denied in his plea explanation that he attempted to murder him.
But convicted him of attempted murder, as he said the man relentlessly punched the child in the face. The boy weighed 38kg at the time, while the father was bulky from all the steroids he had used.
The father, through his advocate, wanted the court to excuse his conduct, as he said he was on drugs at the time and could not remember much of what had happened that day.
“His conduct (during the assault) was not that of a person who was so drugged that he did not know what he was doing. He knew exactly what he did,” the judge said.
The man also denied that he had raped his daughter, but he did admit that on occasion he indecently touched her as he believed she was not his child. The judge, however, accepted the evidence of the teenager as being true.
Judge Jordaan said it was also clear that the father had abused and neglected all five of his children over a number of years. Especially the eldest two children felt the brunt of his tempter.
He kept the children mostly captive in their home and the children were not allowed to have friends, nor were they allowed to attend school. They were subjected to severe beatings and other forms of torture.
The children were also deprived of food and medical care. The father even told his son that he was going to “bliksem” him to death.
Judge Jordaan said he accepted in favour of the mother that she was a battered woman. The eldest children testified how their mother was also subjected to severe assaults from their father.
Sentencing proceedings were, meanwhile, postponed to October 1. The father remained in custody while the mother’s bail was extended.