'Springs monster' cried like a baby in prison

An inmate who spent time in jail with the “Springs monster” says the abusive father – who punished and locked his five children up at home – believed the “world out there is ugly”.

The father was sentenced to an effective 35 years in prison by the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday after being found guilty of raping his eldest daughter‚ the attempted murder of his then 11-year-old son‚ defeating the ends of justice‚ obstruction of justice‚ five counts of child abuse and five counts of child neglect.

His ex-wife received a suspended sentence. The couple cannot be named as that would identify their children.

Rapport wrote on Sunday about the father’s time behind bars – before he was sentenced – as described by an inmate who shared a cell with him at Modderbee Prison.

The inmate asked how he could have locked his children up at home‚ keeping them out of school. He replied that he understood that his wife was giving the children home schooling because “the world out there is ugly”.

He claimed his wife was the controlling one although he acknowledged that he was a strict father. “He acknowledged that the way he punished his children was too hard.”

The inmate also described how the “monster” found God while behind bars. “He never left his cell without his Bible‚” he said.

He described how one night in prison‚ while going to the bathroom‚ he saw the father “sitting on the wall crying like a baby…. He knew he was going to jail for a long time but also that he had not done everything that he was accused of doing…. But it bothered him that people would think he was a bad father.”

He was worried what his children would think about him.

In an affidavit dated September 26‚ one of the children‚ who is now 15‚ described in detail the hate he felt for his father.

“If I could have‚ I would have killed him myself. I hate him a lot.

“When I think about him‚ I hate everything about him. He never loved me. I wish I could get another surname. I do not want to be anything of his any more. I do not want to be his son. Someone once told me I look like him. I became very angry‚” the boy said.