Welkom – A 46-year-old Free State man has been jailed after he pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping and assaulting his two children, exposing them to pornography and forcing his son to have sex with a dog, Thabong police said on Wednesday.
The man, who can't be named as it would reveal the identities of his children, was sentenced to 60 years imprisonment by the Welkom Sexual Offences Court following his conviction on charges of rape, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, indecent assault, displaying pornography to children, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The sentences will run concurrently with one of the rape charges, meaning he was handed an effective 18-year jail sentence.
"The sentence follows an incident where a victim went for professional help from social worker for depression and anxiety and Thabong Cluster Family Violence, Child protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit was called to assist," police spokesperson Malebo Khosana said
"A case docket was opened and the accused was arrested on Wednesday, 18 March 2015 and appeared at court on Thursday, 19 March 2015 where he remained in custody after his bail was denied."
On December 21 this year the State entered into a plea agreement with the accused "to spare all the victims the trauma of testifying".
"The victims indicated that they would rather not testify because it is too painful."
It was revealed in court that the man had repeatedly raped the daughter when she was between the ages of nine and 15 and the boy when he was between the ages of 10 and 15. At one stage, when the mother tried to intervene, said Khosana, her husband pointed a firearm at her.
"Her son came to the accused and said 'rather shoot me'. The accused then just laughed. The wife knowing the accused's violent temper believed that he would indeed shoot her," said Khosana.
The man continued to terrorise his family, beating the children with belts, sticks and his bare fists.
"The accused almost on a daily basis committed assaults of an indecent nature upon his daughter by touching her on her private parts and by forcing her to touch him. During the same period, the accused raped his daughter more than once," said Khosana
"The accused further raped his son and also forced him to have sexual intercourse with the family dog, a Boerboel bitch, on more than one occasion."