[imagesource: Supplied to News24]

That man above with his face visible is 69-year-old Marius Pistorius.

The woman is his wife, 63-year-old Annet Pistorius, who founded Babbel & Krabbel crèche, a play school in Melkbosstrand near Cape Town, back in 1992.

Following an exhaustive three-month investigation, News24 has now publicly named the pair in the public interest. Marius, a suspected paedophile, has been dubbed ‘the Melkbos Monster’.

A warning that descriptions of sexual abuse follow below.

Some of the allegations against Marius and Annet include:

Toddlers as young as two were allegedly abducted and raped by Marius…

The identities of at least seven alleged victims are known to News24.

The NPA twice declined to prosecute Pistorius, citing “unreliable” toddlers.

The play school, on the grounds of the Hervormde Church, now accepts babies as young as three months.

The most recent allegations date back to 2018, with most of his alleged victims aged between two and five.

Marius allegedly has a clear modus operandi, outlined by News24:

Annet would run the Babbel & Krabbel play school in Melkbosstrand. Marius would allegedly show up during the school’s nap time; he would gain access to a girl or boy; he would take them to his house, sometimes penetrating them with his fingers, and sometimes forcing them to touch or masturbate him.

To seal the secret, according to some accounts, Marius would hold the child’s hand above a lawnmower. With their fingers centimetres from the blade, according to direct testimony or testimony from parents, Marius would turn the machine on. As the child struggled to get away from the spinning blade, he allegedly threatened to cut the toddler if the child ever mentioned what happened in one of two houses, directly opposite each other, in a beach suburb of Melkbosstrand.

In 2011, five sets of parents laid charges of sexual abuse against Marius.

Despite the fact that a Cape Town social worker examined four children and found all four were sexually assaulted, none of the cases were ever prosecuted.

The Pistorius’ two Melkbosstrand houses, as well as the crèche, were searched in 2012. Police found various items cited by the allegedly abused children, including “masks, a dog, bird, fish, medals and an orange lawnmower”.

In response to the allegations of sexual abuse and rape made by seven toddlers, Marius and Annet Pistorius said they were victims of a “vendetta for reasons not understood”:

Marius stated he had “no knowledge of the sexual assault or rape of any child” attending the school until he was informed of the incidents…

He said he was aware of the five cases that were made in 2011, but denied that he “perpetrated the alleged unlawful acts”…

Annet said she did not have any knowledge of her husband performing any sexual acts on children.

She went on to say that she “does not accept that my husband, whom I have known for 38 years, could have perpetrated the crimes of removing children from my care, taking them to our home and molesting them”.

According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, there were a number of reasons the NPA chose not to prosecute based on the five dockets opened in 2011 and a further two in 2019:

“[the] most important of which is that there was no consistency in the complainants’ allegations regarding what happened and who were ‘responsible’.

“There was also no objective corroboration for any of their descriptions of the location, time, [and so forth] when the incidents would have happened. Added hereto, the probability of the complainants being found to be competent witnesses – due to their ages – is also doubtful.”

Ntabazalila said that an investigation could be reopened “should new evidence come to light”.

I think we have reached that point, Eric.

News24’s entire investigation is laid out here, with links to stories covering each piece of the puzzle in greater depth.

Here’s hoping this can be a catalyst for justice to be served.

[source:news24]