Top advocate embroiled in sexual abuse scandal

One of SA's most respected lawyers, recently appointed to probe child abuse claims in the Anglican Church of SA, is himself being accused of the sexual abuse of a teenage boy. Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett (74) SC KC, is accused of sexually abusing Hylton White, now a senior social anthropology lecturer at Wits University, reports News24. White (54) recently reported his shock at Gauntlett's inclusion on a three-person panel appointed by the Archbishop of Cape Town to probe reports of atrocities committed by prolific serial abuser, British Christian barrister John Smyth, to determine if any reports or complaints were received against him while in this country, and whether the church failed in its duty to convey them to the authorities. White claims that any findings involving Gauntlett related to child abuse would have ‘no credibility whatsoever’. He said a man who ‘manipulates a teenager into sexual activity based on the need for affirmation is not qualified to sit in judgment on the matter of the church's handling of Smyth's abuses’. Gauntlett has already stepped down from the inquiry panel.

White said he met a much younger Gauntlett while on holiday with his family in the Eastern Cape in the mid-1980s, early in his high school years.  This was when he was first abused. He said: ‘There was never any coercive violence at any point.’ There was a repeat incident about a year later, he claims. White said he had only recently found out that Gauntlett had been included on the Smyth panel, prompting him to alert the Anglican Church through a contact that Gauntlett is ‘not of fit character to assess this matter’. A week passed without a response, resulting in White contacting Archbishop Thabo Makgoba directly last Thursday. Makgoba told News24 he was ‘shocked and distressed to receive brief details naming an individual in an email (on Thursday) night’, even more so at reading the ‘extensive detail’ on social media on Friday morning. 

Full News24 report

Gauntlett was a member of the three-person panel, alongside former Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Ian Farlam and former University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor Dr Mamphela Ramphele. Makgoba said following the email on Thursday, he had accepted Gauntlett's proposal to step down on Friday, subject to consultations with other members of the panel. This after Gauntlett proposed that ‘in the circumstances created by the letter’ he does so, ‘conveying a concern that the work of the Smyth inquiry not be in any way delayed or obstructed by the issue’. News24 notes that according to Makgoba, he had accepted Gauntlett's offer ‘on the well-recognised principle in law that even the appearance of a conflict of interest can be enough to trigger a recusal from a matter’. ‘Justice Farlam and Dr Ramphele have accepted Advocate Gauntlett's decision with regret and have agreed that they will continue the panel's inquiry to completion. It is expected that this will be accomplished shortly,’ Makgoba said. So far there has been no public response from Gauntlett.

See also full report in The Star

Full News24 report