Three rapists have been sentenced in the Worcester Regional Court sitting in the Swellendam Magistrate’s Court on charges of rape.
The victim’s mother’s boyfriend and his two friends were convicted after pleading guilty on Friday, September 15.
The accused are not being named to avoid indirectly naming the child and to avoid her secondary victimisation.
The boyfriend was charged with four counts of rape and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
His three friends were each charged with a count of rape.
A fourth 23-year-old friend implicated in the matter has pleaded not guilty, and his trial has been separated. He will appear in the Robertson Regional Court.
The boyfriend, 30, was in a relationship with the girl’s mother, who worked long hours and asked him to look after the child while she was at work. Instead, he raped her from the age of nine until 12, from 2018 to 2021.
The accused would then take turns raping the complainant while others watched. The court also considered the contents of the Victim Impact Statement of the complainant and held that she suffered immense emotional trauma and is still suffering to this day.
State advocate Heinrich Koert told the court that during one of the incidents, the boyfriend invited his two friends, aged 26 and 28, over to also rape the child.
“This accused (boyfriend) violated the trust most unimaginably. Not only did he rape the complainant repeatedly, but he also facilitated her rape by two of his friends. She fell pregnant and gave birth to a boy. This is the plight of young women and girls in this area. If there is ever a case for the maximum sentence to be imposed, this would be it,” Koert submitted to the court.
The Western Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, said the court considered various case laws and held that deterrence and retribution should come to the fore as the offences committed against a child were serious.
“It further held that children are the heartbeat of the community and are the most vulnerable in society. The accused robbed the complainant of her innocence, and it had a duty to send a clear message to would-be offenders and in turn protect the community against gender-based violence,” Ntabazalila said.
Magistrate Abigail Juries sentenced the boyfriend to life imprisonment.
His two friends were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment each after she found substantial and compelling circumstances for her to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
Magistrate Juries found that the fact that the accused pleaded guilty and did not subject the complainant to the secondary trauma of a protracted trial was a substantial and compelling circumstance. She considered that to be a sign of remorse. She also found that the two friends were induced by the boyfriend to have sex with the complainant and that it only occurred once in respect of each accused.
The period of two years they spent in custody and their respective ages were also substantial and compelling circumstances. She also believed that they could still be rehabilitated.
During sentencing, magistrate Juries highlighted the fact that the boyfriend was supposed to care for and protect the child in the absence of her mother; he was placed in a position of trust and betrayed it by having sexual intercourse with her in the presence of his friends.
“The arrest, counselling of the victim, successful prosecution, and sentencing are all part of collaboration by law enforcement agencies, which proved that collaboration could produce positive results. Advocate Koert, prosecutor Elton Willemse, investigating officer Sergeant Monica Arries, and Worcester Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) case manager advocate Cindy Abdol all played a crucial role in securing the sentence. At some stage, the victim became reluctant to continue with the case, but expert counselling from the Worcester TCC came in handy, helping her to see the case through,” Ntabazalila said.
Advocate Koert welcomed the sentence.
“I hope that this will send a message to the community and like-minded offenders that the State will pursue them to the ends of the earth, despite the barriers erected by social and family ties. Space needs to be created to afford children to grow up in a safe environment and be allowed to reach their full potential,” he said.
The court further ordered their names to be entered into the National Register for Sexual Offenders and the National Child Protection Register (declaring them unfit to work with children), declared them unfit to possess a firearm, and ordered the victim to be informed when parole is considered for the accused.
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