Former Harvester Primary School teacher faces trial for sexual grooming of minor

The former Harvester Primary School teacher charged with sexual grooming and exposing a minor to explicit material has had her case moved to the Regional Court at the Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court division.

The 35-year-old woman, who cannot be identified, made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday, where she heard that her case was transferred to the Regional Court and would be heard on January 28 for the trial portion, following the completion of the investigation.

Vanessa le Roux, founder of Parents for Equal Education (Peesa), who has been following the case from the start and supporting the victim’s family, said while she was relieved that it was moving to trial, more people needed to be held accountable.

“We are happy that the wheels of Justice are turning for our boy child too; however, we are not happy that she is standing alone in the dock," she said.

"Where is the person that drove the desperate search for the boy's phone, between the mother and the grandmother's home, without telling them why she was looking for the phone?” 

“What would have happened if she got hold of the phone? We need to demand answers from SAPS as to why she is off the hook, because if she got hold of the phone, we would have had a case.”

Previously, the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Roland Peters, said the principal was alerted by a parent on June 10, last year, about an explicit video sent by the teacher on June 4.

Peters explained that the 13-year-old minor, who was in Grade 7, gave a statement detailing that he felt uncomfortable with the chats, which started on TikTok and moved to WhatsApp.

The detective added that the teacher allegedly asked the learner (victim) to call her by her first name and used vulgar language.

The State is set to prove that the chats escalated, with the teacher expressing that she liked him, had been watching him, and wanted to kiss him.

The court heard shocking details, that the boy, confused by the chats involving words like "vibrator" and "dildo," showed them to his friends.

Peters said at the time on the stand, that the boy was "shocked and surprised" by a video the teacher sent and blocked her the next day, calling it "morsig and disgusting."

When the minor asked if he could send the video to friends, she allegedly replied she didn't care, as her life was "already over" and she would lose her job.

The teacher was granted R5,000 bail with strict bail conditions.

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