Convicted serial paedophile Bruce Ehrlich, who is back in jail for violating his parole, is taking the parole board to court.
If his bid to have its decision to revoke his parole reviewed fails, the now successful businessman, who founded and manages the East London-based paving franchise KwikPave, may well have to serve out his 15-year jail sentence.
This means he is likely to be in prison until about 2018.
According to court papers, the East London Regional Court sentenced Ehrlich in 2003 to 15 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of 14 counts of indecent assault of minor boys.
The former karate instructor had been convicted of similar offences in Knysna in the early 1990s.
In 2010, despite being dubbed in his various trials by expert witnesses as both a “regressive” and “fixated” paedophile, he was released on parole having served just seven years of his 15-year sentence.
One of the conditions of his parole was that he was not allowed to leave the East London magisterial district.
However, he said in court papers that he had left East London in April for a few weeks to attend to his growing franchise in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Ehrlich seems to suggest in court papers that between 2014 and 2016 he had almost daily left the East London magisterial district in pursuit of his business interests in King William’s Town and Mdantsane. He said he had done so with Community Corrections (ComCor’s) knowledge and that he clearly had tacit permission to take a prolonged leave of absence in this case too.
He said he had written to his parole officer (PO) in late March to inform him of his trip but he had not been at the office when he delivered the letter.
He claims to have left it with the security guard.
He said his PO called on April 2 as he left Port Elizabeth for Cape Town to ask him where he was, and ordered him to report to the PO’s office on April 11 when he returned.
He had done so and was arrested.
He said he was initially informed he was being arrested for abuse of alcohol but later that it was for leaving the magisterial district of East London.
The parole board had soon afterwards revoked his parole.
But Ehrlich says that in the two years he had regularly travelled outside East London, his modus operandi had never been questioned.
He had therefore assumed that having informed his PO of his intended whereabouts he was entitled to take a prolonged leave of absence.
Ehrlich accused Correctional Services of being malicious and having an axe to grind with him because, while imprisoned, he had frequently successfully taken them to court to force them to comply with their own policies.
He said his arrest and the revocation of his parole was a travesty of justice and contended that his businesses were at a standstill without him at the helm.
But the head of ComCor East London, Lindile Ndarala, said when released on parole Ehrlich had been classified as a medium risk offender requiring regular supervision as he was considered a moderate threat to the community.
Ndarala said Ehrlich had never applied for, nor been given, permission to leave the East London magisterial district.
This is not the first time Ehrlich has been in trouble for violating bail or parole conditions.
In 1991 after pleading guilty to sexual offences against minor boys in Knysna his jail sentence was suspended on condition he did not make contact with children under the age of 18.
He ignored this condition and, after being seen in the company of minor boys, was forced to serve his jail sentence.
Later, when on bail on the charges in the East London Regional Court, he again violated a similar bail condition, leading to his bail being revoked pending his criminal trial.
In 2002, his regular breaching of conditions led Supreme Court of Appeal Judge DG Scott to describe him as “unworthy of being trusted”.
Judge Jeremy Pickering has postponed the review hearing to June 28 and ordered Correctional Services to file the full record of proceedings leading to its decision to revoke Ehrlich’s parole.
Paedophile sues parole board
If his bid to have its decision to revoke his parole reviewed fails, the now successful businessman, who founded and manages the East London-based paving franchise KwikPave, may well have to serve out his 15-year jail sentence.
This means he is likely to be in prison until about 2018.
According to court papers, the East London Regional Court sentenced Ehrlich in 2003 to 15 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of 14 counts of indecent assault of minor boys.
The former karate instructor had been convicted of similar offences in Knysna in the early 1990s.
In 2010, despite being dubbed in his various trials by expert witnesses as both a “regressive” and “fixated” paedophile, he was released on parole having served just seven years of his 15-year sentence.
One of the conditions of his parole was that he was not allowed to leave the East London magisterial district.
However, he said in court papers that he had left East London in April for a few weeks to attend to his growing franchise in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Ehrlich seems to suggest in court papers that between 2014 and 2016 he had almost daily left the East London magisterial district in pursuit of his business interests in King William’s Town and Mdantsane. He said he had done so with Community Corrections (ComCor’s) knowledge and that he clearly had tacit permission to take a prolonged leave of absence in this case too.
He said he had written to his parole officer (PO) in late March to inform him of his trip but he had not been at the office when he delivered the letter.
He claims to have left it with the security guard.
He said his PO called on April 2 as he left Port Elizabeth for Cape Town to ask him where he was, and ordered him to report to the PO’s office on April 11 when he returned.
He had done so and was arrested.
He said he was initially informed he was being arrested for abuse of alcohol but later that it was for leaving the magisterial district of East London.
The parole board had soon afterwards revoked his parole.
But Ehrlich says that in the two years he had regularly travelled outside East London, his modus operandi had never been questioned.
He had therefore assumed that having informed his PO of his intended whereabouts he was entitled to take a prolonged leave of absence.
Ehrlich accused Correctional Services of being malicious and having an axe to grind with him because, while imprisoned, he had frequently successfully taken them to court to force them to comply with their own policies.
He said his arrest and the revocation of his parole was a travesty of justice and contended that his businesses were at a standstill without him at the helm.
But the head of ComCor East London, Lindile Ndarala, said when released on parole Ehrlich had been classified as a medium risk offender requiring regular supervision as he was considered a moderate threat to the community.
Ndarala said Ehrlich had never applied for, nor been given, permission to leave the East London magisterial district.
This is not the first time Ehrlich has been in trouble for violating bail or parole conditions.
In 1991 after pleading guilty to sexual offences against minor boys in Knysna his jail sentence was suspended on condition he did not make contact with children under the age of 18.
He ignored this condition and, after being seen in the company of minor boys, was forced to serve his jail sentence.
Later, when on bail on the charges in the East London Regional Court, he again violated a similar bail condition, leading to his bail being revoked pending his criminal trial.
In 2002, his regular breaching of conditions led Supreme Court of Appeal Judge DG Scott to describe him as “unworthy of being trusted”.
Judge Jeremy Pickering has postponed the review hearing to June 28 and ordered Correctional Services to file the full record of proceedings leading to its decision to revoke Ehrlich’s parole.
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