Mother distraught as school brushes off sexual assault of grade 5 pupil

A mother of a 10-year-old grade 5 pupil attending Morula View Primary School in Mabopane fears that her son’s traumatic sexual assault by two of his classmates will affect him psychologically.

The mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the son, said her heart sank when she was called to school for a meeting last week, only to be told that her son was sexually assaulted by two of his classmates.

The head of department at the school and Tshwane districts failed me. Protocol was not followed. What happened to my son is not common law but a criminal act, yet serious measures and intervention were not taken.

—  Victim's mother

They accosted him in the toilets, the woman told TimesLIVE Premium.

During the ordeal, he was threatened not to tell anyone or he would be beaten and his life made a living hell.

The mother said it was not the first time and other pupils had witnessed some of the incidents.

“When my son asks to go to the toilet from the class teacher, the two boys would follow him, sexually assault and bully him,” she said.

She said during a meeting she had with the school and the guardians of the perpetrators, it was discovered that the perpetrators — who are 11 years old — have a history of sexual violence. 

One was alleged to have been sexually assaulted by his late mother’s boyfriend and social workers had to intervene.

Another alleged perpetrator is alleged to have witnessed the sexual acts from his sister and her boyfriend.

She said after the meeting, the principal concluded that her son and the alleged perpetrators would be offered counselling but other than that, no further action would be taken.

The mother said the principal said it was not possible to suspend the perpetrators.

Her request to separate her son from the same class as the perpetrators was also declined, but on Tuesday, the school finally agreed to put him in isolation. 

“I questioned my son’s safety and he — the principal — said he would monitor the toilet attendance. I asked him how he could guarantee that the counselling would work as one of the perpetrators still goes for counselling, but he sexually molested my son in the process,” said the mother.

The concerned mom said after the parents meeting at the school, she got another report that the same perpetrators had slapped her son’s buttocks.

The woman said she was extremely troubled by the incident because her son had been a victim of bullying several years earlier when he was in grade 2.

During that incident, he had been attacked by other boys who flushed his head in the toilet.

She said though he was offered counselling, as a parent she didn’t receive a feedback report.

“Instead when my son got to grade 3 his performance relapsed as I would get calls that he was slow, not performing, and he would forget which homework they gave him. I communicated with the principal who told me that the person who was counselling him said he was fine,” she said.

The mother, who is desperate to get assistance for her son, said she complained at the Tshwane district and police last week, but it yielded no result.

She said when she went to report the matter at the Terminus police station, a statement was taken from her and she was subsequently told that SAPS does not work with such cases as it involves minors.

After being referred to the child protection unit she was reportedly told by an officer that “perpetrators that age don’t penetrate”.

She said she was perplexed as her son had not been assessed and no investigations had been carried out.

“As it occurred many times we don’t know if they used objects or fingers during the different events,” said the mom.

“And health-wise we don’t know if those children are HIV as some are born with it. My son is now taking STI medicine as a precaution.”

The hospital, she said, did not rule out the possibility that her son may have been penetrated.

While the school and police have brushed off the possibility that her son was penetrated, the mother said she was worried her son may be scarred for life.

“I believe he has gone through a lot. I don’t want him to end up raping other children because of something that I didn’t do to him or teach him but was done to him by other children who went through their own ordeal,” she said.

“I do not want my child to grow up to molest other people because of the bullying experience. I don’t want him to think this is right as it was done to him. They are counselling my son, but every day he sees people who have hurt him and now everyone in the class knows and it’s sort of a mockery and joke. Why didn’t they investigate, maybe it’s normal maybe he is not the only victim.

Her son is dealing with severe trauma, and she feels let down by the system. 

“The head of department at the school and Tshwane districts failed me. Protocol was not followed. What happened to my son is not common law but a criminal act, yet serious measures and intervention were not taken. The school should be investigated and action must be taken rightfully. Perpetrators should be charged accordingly and the people who mishandled this case,” she said.

TimesLIVE Premium reached out to the police about the mother’s allegations that she did not receive any assistance.

Captain Mavela Masondo said a case must be opened, and the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit (FCS) must investigate the case, even if the victim and suspect are minors.

“The complainant must go back to the police and ask to see the station commander, who will help her open a case and ensure that the investigation takes place,” Masondo said. 

The Gauteng department of education confirmed that it was aware of the incident and viewed it in a serious light.

The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said they have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“As a precautionary measure, the alleged victim has been temporarily accommodated at a different class to write his final examination. The school has since suspended all the perpetrators and a disciplinary hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday, November 20 2023,” he said.

Mabona said the department’s psychosocial support team were deployed to provide necessary support to the pupil. 

“The department strongly condemns any acts of misconduct by anyone, which seeks to undermine the dignity of our learning institutions. Accordingly, learners are urged to refrain from acts of misconduct in schools; and implore parents to assist the department in instilling learner discipline in and outside the school environment,” he said.

The principal referred queries to the department.

The concerned mom has called on the department of education to broaden the scope of pupils getting counselling after the incident.

“Parents whose children witnessed this behaviour were also not informed. I believe it affected them mentally, and an investigation to check if those two boys only violated my son and not other children too was not done,” she said.

“If other children have also seen this countless times, they need counselling, their parents also need to know,” she said.

Dr Shaheda Omar of the Teddy Bear Foundation said often children who abuse other children usually come from a history of victimisation, which can either be physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

However, she said not all children who are abused become abusers.

“It’s a cycle of abuse here that we see being perpetuated and often we find that the child who abuses is usually a victim of abuses himself. So they have been victimised in different forms and their way to solve the problem or assume a sense of power and control is to take charge. This is the only way they feel they can take charge of their life, it’s adaptive behaviour, it’s an attempted solution to the problem, but it’s not a solution as we can see,” she said.

Omar said the risky behaviour they display and demonstrate is a cry for help.

In this case, she said all children are victims but said perpetrators must be brought to book for their behaviour.

“But at the same time, the fact that they have committed this offence needs to be brought to the attention where actions have consequences. They need to be brought to book to understand that they cannot conduct themselves in such a way. They need support, they need intervention because often behind a mad child or bad child there is a sad child and these children are probably crying for help in ways that are not acceptable,” she said.

Omar said such cases need recurring interventions.

“It’s not a quick fix, it requires long-term intervention and support for the child and family on managing their child and looking at putting protective measures in place,” she said.