Pretoria -
Pretoria’s “Casanova” serial rapist was sentenced on Tuesday to 145 years in jail, but because “he will not live long enough to serve such a sentence” he must serve an effective 35 years behind bars.
This was the finding of Pretoria High Court Judge Cynthia Pretorius, who sentenced Reginald Temana on eight charges of rape, one of attempted rape, three charges of robbery and five charges of theft.
Temana, 21, was a danger to women and to safeguard them, he should remain in jail for a very long time, the judge said.
He was described by a police profiler as a typical serial rapist, who lured his victims up the mountain behind Langenhoven High School, where he raped them before taking their possessions.
Temana worked as a hawker in the Pretoria CBD during the months in which he preyed on young women.
Most of them were waiting to board taxis.
He either lured them up the mountain with some excuse or threatened them with a knife to follow him up the mountain.
His reign of terror only came to an end in 2010 when one of his victims identified him in the street.
She pointed him out to taxi drivers who apprehended him and called the police.
Temana, however, insisted until the end that he did not rape anyone.
He claimed he was a “Casanova among the ladies”.
He said he had so many female sexual partners that he could not recall their faces afterwards.
According to him the victims were “all his girlfriends” in his harem.
But the women - the youngest of whom was 18 - all told a grim tale of a man who at first was friendly when he approached them, but who turned into a violent monster once he had them in his clutches.
They all testified in tears about their ordeal and about the impact it had had on their lives.
Temana was proved to have had sex with the women, as he was linked to them via DNA (sperm) and they all identified him by a scar on his chest.
Judge Pretorius said it was clear that Temana was a serial rapist who used the same modus operandi throughout.
She said the court had to take cognisance of the fact that all the victims suffered physically and emotionally.
Some were strong enough to move on with their lives, while for others it was still an uphill battle, the judge said.
Temana picked his victims in the streets and not only raped them, but also robbed them.
The judge said if his last victim had not been brave enough to point him out to the police, many more women would have been raped.
She referred to the evidence of a police profiler who said sexual offenders rarely rehabilitated in jail as their crimes were linked to their sex drives.
Rapists were among the highest reoffenders, the officer said.
The judge was told that Temana posed a significant risk to women.
“It is clear that the accused is a person who should spend a long time in prison to ensure that he does not ruin the lives of more women and their families,” Judge Pretorius said.
She added that he was not only a serial rapist, but also a robber and a thief. - Peroria News