Shocking abuse case continues in Brno court

A court in Brno has continued hearing a complex case of child abuse which has shocked the Czech Republic. One of the victims in the case, Ondřej has given testimony, stating that he was often caged and beaten with a bamboo pole by his mother. Barbora Škrlová, one of five defendants in the case has given tearful testimony alleging that she was sexually abused, while also admitting her involvement in physical abuse against the young boy and his ten year old brother Jakub from the town of Kuřim. The abuse came to light last year after a neighbour picked up a signal from a child minding video device in the flat of Klára Mauerová; it showed that one of her sons, aged seven, was being kept naked in appalling conditions in a cupboard. It is also suspected that several other defendants took part in the abuse of the children. In the wake of that discovery, it emerged that Ms Mauerová had tried to adopt 33-year-old Barbora Škrlová in the guise of a 12-year-old girl. The alleged abusers have been linked to a sect headed by Barbora Škrlová’s father; her brother is among the accused. On Tuesday Klára Mauerová admitted to mistreating her children, saying she had been manipulated by her sister Kateřina and Barbora Škrlová into taking what she called a harsh approach to child-rearing.