Kimberley - A 28-year-old Herlear man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting his stepbrother’s six-year-old child in the backroom of his parents’ house.
The incident happened in February 2013 when the now Grade 1 child was only four years old.
According to evidence presented earlier in the court, the child, together with her three-year-old brother, had gone to the grandparent’s house, where the accused lived in an outside room.
The accused was playing an Xbox game and the two children sat on his bed and watched him.
The young boy fell asleep and, according to the girl’s evidence, which she gave through an intermediary, the accused kissed her and said she must suck his tongue like a lollipop. He also put his hands down her pants and rubbed her.
He then went into the bathroom, where he took off his pants and sat the child on his lap. He asked her to touch his penis, which she refused to do.
In his testimony, the accused denied kissing or touching the child. According to him, the children were jumping on the bed and the girl kept falling on top of him with her vagina and bottom in his face.
Magistrate Jesse Clarke said that in determining guilt he needed to keep in mind that the onus on the State was to prove the guilt of the accused beyond any reasonable doubt.
He said he was impressed with the testimony of the mother of the child, who said that her daughter had “shyly” told her that the accused had kissed her and put his hand on her “vissie” (as she referred to her vagina).
“The mother said she was shocked but stayed calm and asked the child what she meant. The child told her that the accused put his tongue in her mouth and told her to suck it like a lollipop. She said the child also told her that the accused put his hand inside and outside her panty and rubbed her. He then went into the bathroom and took off his trousers. He asked the child to touch him but she refused. According to the child, the accused’s ‘verkeerde plekkie het iets anders geword en wit goed het uitgelek’ (his wrong place became something else and white stuff came out). The child also told her mother that she could smell his ‘verkeerde plek’.”
Clarke added that he could find no indication that the mother had wilfully exaggerated what had happened and there was also no evidence of bad blood between the mother and the accused to make her want him to appear in a bad light.
Clarke said he was also impressed with the child’s testimony and described her as a reliable witness.
“She answered what seemed to be difficult questions and was sure of her evidence and stuck to the crux of what had happened to her.
“Despite her young age she was aware of what was going on and was also able to describe accurately everything that happened in the room prior to the incident.”
Clarke stated that the accused, however, did not impress him as a forceful, good and reliable witness.
“He totally denied the allegation and said the door of his flat was open all the time and anyone could look inside. He also said that his parents were walking around outside.”
Clarke pointed out that the accused tried to put the blame on the child.
“When the accused testified he made no mention of kissing. He said the child was jumping on his bed and kept falling on him with her bum and vagina on his face. During cross-examination, however, he suddenly remembered that the child had kissed him and asked him to be her boyfriend. This is such an important aspect that I cannot believe he would forget about it during his evidence in chief. I believe he was lying also when he said the child peeped through a crack when he went to the toilet, which he said he had reprimanded her about previously. This was never put to the child and I believe it is because the accused was making up his testimony as he went along.”
The defence, represented by Riaan Bode, conceded that the case was very serious and that the interests of society were always impaired with acts like these, especially when the victim was so young.
He added that the accused was 28 years old and was a first-time offender.
“The fact that he now has a criminal record will seriously impact on his future, whether it is applying for a licence, a job or a visa. I can only imagine the future consequences.”
Bode also pointed out that the accused was employed at a local pharmacy as a general worker and earned a nominal amount of R2 000 a month. He added that the accused looked young and had gone to a special needs school and was not likely to be able to deal with the situation at a correctional facility.
The case was postponed until Wednesday for sentencing.
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