Neil Pieter le Roux’s former colleague yesterday told the East London Magistrate’s Court how a chance glance through a door revealed him allegedly embracing a schoolgirl inside the classroom of a top East London school.
The woman told regional magistrate Ignatius Kitching that the incident occurred on the afternoon of April 12 last year.
This was early in the third day of the rape, sexual assault and sexual grooming trial against the 67-year-old teacher.
“I left the school at about 2pm and when I got home, I realised that I had forgotten my phone and iPad at the school. I drove back and arrived at the school at about 5pm.
“As I walked down the passage of the school, I passed Mr Le Roux’s class and I saw him in an embrace with someone,” the teacher said.
She fetched her items from her classroom.
“As I walked out of the classroom, I heard a door in Mr Le Roux’s classroom slam shut. I walked out of the school and saw a white car leaving the school premises and I asked the security guard whose car that was and he said it was Mr Le Roux’s,” the woman told the court.
She said she got home and called the school principal and told what she had seen.
The state then called the school principal, who took to the stand and testified that she had called Le Roux into her office the following day, together with the school’s deputy principal, to ask him about what his colleague had seen the previous day.
“I asked him who had been in the classroom with him and he said her name. He said he was giving her extra lessons. I then told him he had been seen in a compromising position with her and he immediately denied that.
“I noticed his mouth was dry as he was speaking to me. He said, ‘No, no I was giving her lessons’. He went on to say he may have given her a grandfatherly hug as he left the room but nothing else,” the principal told the court.
She said she then told Le Roux she would have to investigate the matter further. She had decided to inform a parent and call them and the schoolgirl to the school.
The girl had, with “difficulty”, spoken about what had happened.
“The following day I told Mr Le Roux that serious allegations had come to light and we would have to ask him to take leave of absence and take legal advice on the matter,” said the principal, adding she had asked him to hand in his classroom keys, laptop and a remote control for the school gate.
The principal said Le Roux had resigned the following Monday.
The trial resumes this morning. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Chance glance led to sex pest-accused teacher’s resignation
The woman told regional magistrate Ignatius Kitching that the incident occurred on the afternoon of April 12 last year.
This was early in the third day of the rape, sexual assault and sexual grooming trial against the 67-year-old teacher.
“I left the school at about 2pm and when I got home, I realised that I had forgotten my phone and iPad at the school. I drove back and arrived at the school at about 5pm.
“As I walked down the passage of the school, I passed Mr Le Roux’s class and I saw him in an embrace with someone,” the teacher said.
She fetched her items from her classroom.
“As I walked out of the classroom, I heard a door in Mr Le Roux’s classroom slam shut. I walked out of the school and saw a white car leaving the school premises and I asked the security guard whose car that was and he said it was Mr Le Roux’s,” the woman told the court.
She said she got home and called the school principal and told what she had seen.
The state then called the school principal, who took to the stand and testified that she had called Le Roux into her office the following day, together with the school’s deputy principal, to ask him about what his colleague had seen the previous day.
“I asked him who had been in the classroom with him and he said her name. He said he was giving her extra lessons. I then told him he had been seen in a compromising position with her and he immediately denied that.
“I noticed his mouth was dry as he was speaking to me. He said, ‘No, no I was giving her lessons’. He went on to say he may have given her a grandfatherly hug as he left the room but nothing else,” the principal told the court.
She said she then told Le Roux she would have to investigate the matter further. She had decided to inform a parent and call them and the schoolgirl to the school.
The girl had, with “difficulty”, spoken about what had happened.
“The following day I told Mr Le Roux that serious allegations had come to light and we would have to ask him to take leave of absence and take legal advice on the matter,” said the principal, adding she had asked him to hand in his classroom keys, laptop and a remote control for the school gate.
The principal said Le Roux had resigned the following Monday.
The trial resumes this morning. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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