Abuser played ‘wrestling’ with siblings

Statue of justice holding balanced scales in hand isolated on white background

Statue of justice holding balanced scales in hand isolated on white background

Published Feb 5, 2016

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Cape Town – A man who molested three young brothers, who are now adults, was found guilty on five counts of indecent assault on Friday.

Shopkeeper Maximiono Sontana, 58, appeared in the Parow Sexual Offences Court before Magistrate Elsa van Zyl.

She said the victims were currently undergoing psychiatric treatment because of the incidents.

When the brothers finally told their mother about what had happened to them some 20 years ago, their mother informed Sontana via an SMS message that she was aware of what he did. Sontana pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, he had offered to pay the medical bills, and had done so.

Evidence was that Sontana and his wife had close ties with the parents of the boys.

When confronted about the offences by his own wife, Sontana explained that he often “played wrestling” with the boys on one of the beds, and may have inadvertently touched them inappropriately in the process.

The magistrate said a civil claim against Sontana was pending in the High Court.

She rejected a defence claim that the criminal charges had been laid to support the civil action.

She ruled that the victims had told the truth in their testimony, and for this reason rejected Sontana’s denial of the charges as not reasonably possibly true.

It is common practice for a court to revoke an accused person’s bail once he or she has been found guilty.

Sontana had been out on warning, and his defence counsel, Reuben’s Liddel, said it would not be in the interests of justice to order that he now be kept in custody.

The case was postponed to May 6 for sentencing proceedings and, at the defence’s request, the magistrate again released Sontana on warning.

African News Agency

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