‘Sex pest’ teacher finally bust: Man in custody after ‘harassing & groping pupil’
|Published
SCANDAL: Sex video ‘leak’
Manenberg parents are demanding answers from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) after a male teacher was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a schoolgirl – just months after he was embroiled in a sex video scandal at the school.
This arrest follows two incidents reported at the Manenberg high school last week where two scared meisies told their families they had been harassed by Lance Hufkie.
The 30-year-old social sciences teacher first landed in trouble two months ago after a video of him allegedly masturbating on his bed went viral on social media.
At the time, it was revealed that the video was sent to girls at the school.
The WCED stated that he had denied sending the video but gave no explanation as to how the children came to be in possession of it.
It was also revealed that the rape of a 13-year-old girl, which was also filmed, allegedly happened in the same teacher’s classroom.
A parent said she reported Hufkie to Manenberg Police last week after he allegedly groped a 14-year-old girl’s breasts.
“This was the second time he had done something to her. The first time it was verbally and he told her he will give her the answers to the tests and he will be her sugar daddy. He was arrested at the school,” said the mother.
Police spokesperson, Captain FC can Wyk, says: “A 30-year-old male was arrested for sexual assault on 2 June. He appeared in Wynberg court on 3 June. The victim is 14 years old.”
Hufkie was sent to Pollsmoor Prison and is set to return to court today for a bail hearing.
On Monday, a Manenberg dad revealed that his 13-year-old niece was also allegedly sexually assaulted by Hufkie.
“I brought her to Manenberg SAPS to speak to a counsellor and that is when the story came out.
“She is in Grade 8 and told us that he had touched her private parts and it appears he was trying to groom her to get into bed,” says the father.
“At this stage she is still going for counselling but we blame the department and the school. Why did they allow him around the girls after that video? He should have been suspended.”
WCED spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, says they could not find evidence of how the video was sent: “The material was on his phone and the allegation was that learners took his cellphone in class and then sent it to friends.
“The WCED sent social workers to the school to speak to learners, but no one came forward.
“We could not charge him for the video as we could not find any evidence that he had distributed it to a learner.”
She added that Hufkie has not yet been suspended as he is in custody.
“The WCED has been in contact with the State Attorney and will be informed of the outcome of his bail hearing.”