Families 'taking it one day at a time' after PMB counsellor convicted of rape
Please note that the following story details incidents of child abuse which might be upsetting or triggering to some readers.
The Pietermaritzburg families working to repair the damage caused by a school guidance counsellor convicted of sex abuse and the rape of school boys say they are taking it one day at a time.
Darren Goddard was handed a life imprisonment sentence over a week ago.
He was further sentenced to 17 years after he was convicted of sexual assault, rape and accessing child pornography.
He was arrested in 2016 after the children's parents raised concerns about the games the pupils were being asked to play during their therapy sessions with Goddard.
His victims were between the ages of four and nine years.
READ: Rights expert bemoans ‘drawn out’ trial of PMB counsellor convicted of rape
A relative of one of the boys, and spokesperson for some of the families, says the journey to recovery has been long and painful.
"There are no words to describe what the families have been through. One boy tried to commit suicide twice. My little boy was only five-years-old. It was heart-breaking already for me that such a happy-go-lucky friendly little boy at five years old when he was six, we had to put him on antidepressants, post-traumatic stress medication."
He's welcomed Goddard's prison sentence but says it took a long time to get here.
"I wasn't happy with the investigation. It was dragging, continuous remands for work not done, something not ready and I started to get up set. At the end of the day, it got finalised."
