Former Rondebosch Boys' Prep teacher fights sexual assault charges in court

The 85-year-old former SA school teacher who is on trial and wanted by UK authorities on allegations of 74 counts of sexual assault of young boys, is asking the court to dismiss the charge against him involving a male victim in Cape Town who came forward three years ago after nearly four decades. 

Iain Wares has since pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent assault and made an appearance in the Wynberg Regional Court on Friday.

He, via his legal team, is also appealing his extradition to Scotland to face his alleged crimes abroad, arguing for the Extradition Act to be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.

The responding parties brought their written and answering submissions and their notice to oppose that application. Wares, who walks with an aide, previously asked the court if he could sit in the front row as he has a hearing problem.

The local case involves a victim, dubbed “Stephen”, who took the witness stand last year where he told of the indecent assault Wares allegedly inflicted on him.

The 47-year-old victim broke his silence claiming he was abused by Wares who was his teacher at Rondebosch Boys’ Preparatory during 1988.

Wares is accused of indecently assaulting the male victim by touching his buttocks and penis and rubbing his penis up against the victim.

The victim’s wife took the stand as the State closed its case, in which she revealed how her husband broke his silence after seeing Wares on television.

During her testimony, the woman, who cannot be identified, detailed how her husband disclosed his abuse while they were in Brazil in 2018.

She told the court that while they watched an episode of Carte Blanche in 2022, her husband revealed that it was his teacher who had abused him and did so by pointing to Wares who was on television.

Wares' lawyer, Ben Matthewson, via cross-examination, questioned why he (victim) had not come forward between 2018 and 2022.

Matthewson informed the court that they wished to bring the Section 174 application known as a discharge or dismissal of the charge against him. 

The application involves a section of the Criminal Procedure Act, when the State closes its case, and there is no evidence on which the court may draw the accused to the charge. 

Miranda Jordan from Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) said the application was a desperate attempt by Wares’s legal team to free him from the charge.

“To ensure justice is served, the complainant, UK victims, and WMACA have introduced a watching brief to monitor court proceedings closely. Advocate Lorna Ferguson is overseeing the criminal case in South Africa to protect the interests of victims.”

The matter has been postponed to May 9. 

Wares initially made a written affidavit of admissions to having inappropriate urges to touch boys and to sexually abusing them but it was retracted with the claim that he had been ill-advised.

In August 2024, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development said via a statement on the issue of extradition, that the application and supporting processes, in terms of the Extradition Act, 67 of 1962, were set in motion.

The extradition involves allegations by 42 former students of Wares in the UK who are all now beyond the age of 60, that the incidents of apparent sexual and physical abuse took place between the 1960s and 1970s at schools such as Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College.

Cape Argus