Judge slams mother over harmful conduct
Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) Acting Judge KL Meikle has expressed his concerns following claims that the mother of a boy (6) is allegedly exposing him to harmful conduct.
This is said to include exposing him to belly dancers ‘dancing seductively for money’, while she attended a party.
A Pretoria News report says the child’s parents were divorced in 2022 and the boy is residing with his mother. His concerned father turned to the court for an order, which included that various experts had to investigate whether the child is being exposed to an environment which is not conducive to him and then to recommend what is in the best interest of the child.
Following her assessments of the child, an educational psychologist expressed grave concerns regarding the mother’s ability to care for the boy.
The experts involved called for a further urgent forensic assessment of the child in light of the allegations against the mother.
Meikle said that having had regard to the psychologist report, he is gravely concerned by the contents thereof as to the mother’s ability to care for the child and what is in the child’s best interest, pending the final reports being presented to court at a later stage.
The judge said it was extremely worrisome that in her preliminary report, the psychologist claimed that the mother was exposing the child to explicit and sexual conduct while he sleeps in the bed next to her, notes the Pretoria News report.
While the judge did not expand on the nature of this, he noted that this may constitute a criminal offence. According to the psychologist, the mother ‘relies on technology’ to parent the child and has admitted that she gives in to whatever he wants as it is the easiest course of action.
While the father did not at this stage ask to have custody of the child, the court decided that pending the final reports regarding the best interests of the child, the mother may have to immediately hand over the boy to his father.
‘It goes without saying that when it comes to considerations as to what is in the best interests of a minor child, a court cannot have a wait-and-see attitude, particularly in the light of what is contained in the (psychologist) report,’ the judge said.
The Offices of the Family Advocate has been instructed to also conduct an urgent assessment as to what is in the best interests of the boy.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
