Pretoria -
A Pretoria police officer faces three charges of rape and kidnapping relating to three incidents involving minors.
The 48-year-old warrant officer from the Mamelodi East police station is in custody following the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl.
The girl alleged she was raped by the officer on April 28.
The officer, after disappearing for a week, handed himself over at the Brooklyn police station on May 5.
The teenager said she was at home when the suspect, who is the sector manager at the Mamelodi East police station, arrived to pick her up.
He had allegedly been called out by the community police forum (CPF), after it had received a call from the girl’s guardian.
Apparently the guardian called the CPF because the girl did not complete her chores.
The girl apparently did not co-operate with the CPF and the police were called.
The officer arrived at the girl’s home in a police vehicle at 5pm to pick her up.
“He gave the victim’s family the impression that she would be handed over to a female officer,” said Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), which is handling the case.
The officer took the girl to a nearby KFC and bought her a meal before allegedly taking her to his house for the night.
“He raped her and dropped her off at home the next morning,” said Dlamini.
The girl did not inform the authorities because the officer apparently threatened her.
At about the same time the next day, the officer took the girl to his house and wanted to rape her once again.
“She escaped after asking to go to the toilet,” Dlamini said.
The victim reported the incident to police officers, who picked her up next to the road after her escape.
The Ipid said the officer faced two charges of rape, one of an eight-year-old girl in 2008 and another of a 12-year-old girl in 2009.
In the 2009 incident, the girl fell pregnant. It was believed the officer was responsible for the pregnancy.
The officer was granted bail in both cases.
He continued to work as an officer at the Mamelodi East police station.
Dlamini confirmed the officer was employed by the SAPS at the time of the incident last month.
He said Ipid was “uncovering what happened”. The officer had not been suspended and it was unclear what disciplinary processes the SAPS had followed.
The officer appeared in the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to apply for bail, but withdrew his application.
The Ipid intends to combine the three charges and handle them as one case. The officer remains in custody and is to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on May 28.
Provincial police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said she was not aware of the case and could not say whether the officer had been suspended.
Pretoria News