A former South African math teacher and rugby coach, who is wanted in the United Kingdom on sexual abuse charges is expected to make an appearance on similar charges, in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court.
Also read: Principal “deeply disturbed” by sexual abuse at elite Cape Town school
The accused, 83-year-old Iain Wares, is due to make his first appearance following claims that he sexually and physically abused a Grade 7 learner at Rondebosch Boys Prep in 1988.
The complainant, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, has appealed to other victims of abuse during Wares’ tenure at the school to come forward with their allegations and contact Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) .
The accused is currently fighting extradition and is wanted in the UK for abusing dozens of boys.
While Wares appealed his extradition, the request that he be sent to the UK to appear in a Scottish court was approved by the South African government in 2020.
According to the BBC, he faces seven charges: “six of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour and one of indecent assault”.
Last week, the former math teacher and rugby coach was named in the House of Commons when the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Ian Blackford, used parliamentary privilege to name the alleged sex predator.
It was argued he shouldn’t be afforded the protection of his pseudonym in the press, which was “Edgar”, as the matter was in the public interest.
Meanwhile, WMACA stated that the association remained deeply concerned by the fact that Wares had been arrested in 2019 but was allowed to await the extradition outcome at home in South Africa, rather than in prison, “which is not the norm”.
It has also been widely reported that Wares admitted he had “urges to touch the students inappropriately and on occasion I did so” while teaching at Edinburgh Academy
Reports state that court documents reveal that the accused travelled
to the UK in 1967 for psychiatric treatment for his “problems”.
This saw him spend three months at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital before he went on to earn a diploma in education at Moray House College the following year.
He got married in 1970 and took a post at the private Edinburgh Academy.
Three years later he was appointed as a teacher at the Fettes Junior College where he acknowledged that his inappropriate behaviour continued.
He said that he had returned to hospital for further treatment, “for my drinking and inappropriate behaviour,” according to court documents.
“In 1979, when a pupil complained about him, he said he admitted the behaviour and agreed to leave the college. There was nothing reported to authorities and no formal processes to hold him accountable,” said Miranda Jordan, Founding Director of WMACA.
BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell is among many former students who have made allegations against him during his time at the prestigious Edinburgh Academy.
The 83-year-old is alleged to have sexually assaulted four boys at the Edinburgh Academy between 1969 and 1973, and three more at Fettes College between 1974 and 1976. He is also said to have then returned to South Africa to continue teaching.
His alleged victims range in age from 7 to 14.
Fettes College has since issued a “full and unreserved apology to anyone who suffered abuse” at the school. Edinburgh Academy has previously apologised to anyone who suffered abuse and insists it now has robust safeguarding measures in place.
The former teacher is believed to now be living in a gated retirement community in Cape Town. His extradition appeal is due to be heard by judges in the Western Cape High Court this year.
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Picture: Cape{town}Etc Library