Creche head 'asked kids to re-enact sex act'

26 May 2015 - 02:14 By Penelope Mashego

A 68-year-old principal of a Johannesburg crèche is today expected to plead to a charge of compelled rape after allegedly telling two young children to have sex and allegedly filmed the act. The woman, who appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate's Court yesterday, could face a jail term for the incident, which allegedly took place in February last year.According to court documents, a teacher at the crèche reported to the principal that a two-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl were found having sex in a toilet.The principal called the children to her office and, in the presence of other teachers, allegedly asked them to re-enact the sexual intercourse. She allegedly took out her phone and recorded the act.She allegedly showed the recording to the children's parents. The girl's parents complained to the police. Compelled rape is defined in the Sexual Offences Act as unlawfully and intentionally compelling someone to commit an act of sexual penetration with another person without the consent of either.The prescribed minimum sentence in a case in which the victim is younger than 16 is life imprisonment. But a court can impose a lighter sentence if there are circumstances compelling enough to justify it.Thebe Mohatle, spokesman for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, could not yesterday say whether the department had taken disciplinary steps against the principal or whether the crèche was being investigated.National executive officer of Childline Dumisile Nala said the children's behaviour was not unusual but the way the principal allegedly handled the matter was "unacceptable" and "bizarre".Nala said the children were probably disturbed by having to re-enact the sexual act than when they did it in the first place.She said they probably did it after watching a similar act on television...

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