Convicted paedophile Bruce Ehrlich will remain behind bars until his trial is concluded.
In the East London magistrate’s court on Tuesday, magistrate Linda Magaxeni denied Ehrlich bail.
He has been in custody for almost a month following his arrest on charges of rape, sexual assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, sexual grooming, and kidnapping.
Ehrlich was arrested after two boys, who had lived with him from 2013 after his release from prison, last month opened cases against him.
“Taking into account that the applicant forced boys to touch his private parts, and also touched theirs, and he even tried to have sex anally with one of the boys, as well as his past conduct and the prevalence of his previous offences, it will not be in the interests of justice to grant bail to the applicant,” Magaxeni said.
After bail was denied, Ehrlich shook his head before returning to the police cells.
In March 2000, Ehrlich was arrested for 14 counts of indecent assault of minor boys aged between 12 and 17 and was denied bail on his first application.
Ehrlich to stay in jail until trial ends
Convicted paedophile Bruce Ehrlich will remain behind bars until his trial is concluded.
In the East London magistrate’s court on Tuesday, magistrate Linda Magaxeni denied Ehrlich bail.
He has been in custody for almost a month following his arrest on charges of rape, sexual assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, sexual grooming, and kidnapping.
Ehrlich was arrested after two boys, who had lived with him from 2013 after his release from prison, last month opened cases against him.
“Taking into account that the applicant forced boys to touch his private parts, and also touched theirs, and he even tried to have sex anally with one of the boys, as well as his past conduct and the prevalence of his previous offences, it will not be in the interests of justice to grant bail to the applicant,” Magaxeni said.
After bail was denied, Ehrlich shook his head before returning to the police cells.
In March 2000, Ehrlich was arrested for 14 counts of indecent assault of minor boys aged between 12 and 17 and was denied bail on his first application.
East London paedophile faces new charges
He appealed and bail was granted with a stringent condition that he should not be in the company of anyone under the age of 18.
He then applied on three occasions to have his bail conditions amended but all three applications were unsuccessful. He went on to ignore his bail conditions and was seen in the presence of minors. He was subsequently arrested and held until his trial commenced in 2001.
He will be remanded in custody until the finalisation of his trial, the magistrate said.
He will be back in court on May 14.
Pastor accused of sexually assaulting minors to stay in jail until May 10
Ehrlich’s convictions for similar offences against boys date back to the early 1990s.
These include being convicted for offences against minor boys in Knysna in 1991, and being imprisoned in East London in 2003 for 15 years for 14 counts of indecent assault of minor boys.
The Dispatch reported in 2016 that Ehrlich had been released on parole in 2010 but had been sent back to prison for breaking parole conditions after he was allegedly seen teaching minor boys squash at the Cambridge Sports Club in East London.
nonsindisoq@dispatch.co.za
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