Of all the abuse, manipulation, and horrifying crimes that religious cult leader Victor Barnard committed,
no one could have predicted his youngest victim would wield the most
damning evidence against him. In court documents, her name is C. When
she was 13, she started drawing a tiny X on her calendar every day Barnard raped her.
Wedged
into corners of her calendar’s white boxes, alongside notes about music
practice or play dates with friends, the ink charted what would become
the driving force behind 59 counts of sexual assault that C and her
friend B, another victim, ultimately filed against Barnard. Years after
he first abused them, the two women spoke directly to Barnard in court
on Friday.
