Father in Mossel Bay court for allegedly abusing baby

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The trial of the Hartenbos father accused of abusing his 4-month-old son so severely that the child will never be normal again, continued in the Mossel Bay Regional court on Monday morning.

Twenty Eight year-old Tertius van den Bergh is accused of attempted murder after his infant son was abused on the 26th and 27th of August 2012.

The abuse came to light when the baby went for a routine check up at a local pharmacy.

A psychologist for the defense, Teresa Scholtemeyer, testified that she had two sessions with the accused after making her finding.

Scholtemeyer struggled during cross examination when she admitted she never saw an official report or file on the incident before making her finding.

The State put it to her that she was asked to draw up a personality report of the accused but that she also found that the accused was of unsound mind when he abused the baby. During cross examination the State mentioned to Scholtemeyer that she filed in her statement that the accused could not remember detail of the abuse.

He did however give a detailed description to the investigating officer, shortly after the incident.

The trial continues