Paedophile Ehrlich 'danger to society'

By Wimpie Heath
Court Reporter

EAST LONDON -- Former probation officer Patricia Wild yesterday labelled Bruce Ehrlich a "severe paedophile" and said that he posed a danger to society.

Ehrlich, 39, brought a formal bail application after he was arrested last week and charged with 11 counts of indecent assault on boys aged between 10 and 16.

The offences were allegedly committed from 1997 until December last year.

Wild, who did a probation officer's report on Ehrlich in 1991, said he was unable to break the "circle" within which he committed these offences.

In 1991, he was convicted on six counts of child abuse and was sentenced to R6000 or two years' jail plus another two years' jail suspended for five years with various conditions.

She said: "This is a person that satisfies his personal, psychological and sexual needs with young boys. He has never shown any signs of remorse.

The only thing that worried him was the fact that he lost his business and his standing in the community and was financially ruined as result of the 1991 trial."

In her 1991 report, Wild said Ehrlich's modus operandi was that of the classic regressive paedophile.

There was no violence or penetration involved in the sexual acts.

Intelligent and skilled in working with children, the paedophile targets vulnerable children, who usually come from poor, broken homes.

They see him as a father figure on whom they depend, and are systematically desensitised over a long period of time during which acts of increasing intimacy occur.

Wild said that Ehrlich could under no circumstances be released on bail, as he would jeopardise the trial by attempting to persuade the children involved to change their evidence.

Any condition placed on the bail would not be adhered to as could be seen when he failed to stick to the sentence conditions imposed in 1991.

The court allowed him to submit an affidavit in which he would attempt to convince the court to release him on bail. This is expected to be handed to magistrate Deon Russouw next week.

Russouw indicated that he would deliver judgment on March 27.