Francesca Villette
SEVENTEEN years after the rape and murder of her 14-year-old daughter her wounds can finally heal, Sylvia Farmer said yesterday after Elmario Maasdorp was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Maasdorp, 38, was the fourth person involved in the rape and murder of Valencia Farmer, 14, in 1999.
He entered a plea and sentencing agreement yesterday in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court and was sentenced to 23 years for raping Farmer, and another 23 years for her murder. The sentences will run concurrently.
Farmer said yesterday her maternal instinct had never allowed her to make peace with her daughter’s murder as she knew Maasdorp was involved but had been walking free.
“I am glad justice was finally served and that he is being punished for what he did to my daughter,” said Farmer.
“My motherly instinct always told me the case was not closed and that he should be brought to book. Finally my wounds can heal properly.”
In June 1999, Valencia, who lived in Eerste River, was gang-raped and stabbed 53 times when she left a local shebeen. Her throat was also slit.
She was found naked by neighbours later that same morning after she crawled on to a street.
She was taken to Tygerberg Hospital, where she was able to name her attackers to police before she died a day later.
In 2001, three men were sentenced for raping and killing her. Franklyn Roberts, 19, and Glenville Faro, 20, were sentenced to two life terms.
Russel van Wyk, was sentenced to 18 years for murder and 15 years for rape. He was a juvenile at the time of the attack.
Maasdorp was also arrested at the time, but charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence.
Last year a new police specialised investigations unit in the area, established to deal with the scourge of gangsterism, received a tip-off that led to Maasdorp’s arrest on September 12.
Maasdorp pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering and raping Valencia.
Prosecutor advocate Louis van Niekerk said Maasdorp never indicated why he participated in Valencia’s rape and murder, but he was happy with the court’s verdict.
“She (Valencia) was 14 years old, she had her full life ahead of her, there was no provocation and she was very vulnerable at the time,” said Van Niekerk.
“Her gruesome death led to her mother’s depression and we hope that she will find closure. She indicated that she was happy with the sentence.
“We then put her into contact with social workers so that she can get some help. We have done that today as well to ensure that she gets all the help she may get in order to close this chapter.”
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the NPA welcomed the sentence and hoped it would send a message that no matter how long it took, the law would catch up with criminals.
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