Kimberley - Kimberley’s notorious wheelchair rapist, Daniel Oliphant, will remain behind bars until he is 74 years old after he was sentenced to an effective 14 years imprisonment on Monday.
Magistrate Jesse Clarke sentenced Oliphant to 18 years imprisonment for rape, of which four years were suspended for a period of five years. This means that the 61-year-old will spend an effective 14 years in jail.
Oliphant was earlier found guilty of raping the 10-year-old granddaughter of a former girlfriend in May 2013.
State prosecutor Advocate Ntombi Fanayo called for a life sentence to be imposed on Olipant, stressing the seriousness of the offence and the fact that, because of Olipant’s medical condition, he was trusted by both the community and the family of the victim.
“The minor in this case was raped in the toilet of her own home by someone she trusted. The social worker testified that the victim regarded the accused as her grandfather. The accused is in a wheelchair and one immediately thinks he is harmless. No one in the house would have suspected that he was capable of such an act,” said Fanayo.
She pointed out that the accused had been, until the sentencing on Monday, living in the same house as the victim.
“He has also not expressed remorse or apologised to the family for his actions and is still adamant he is being framed. The interest of the community needs to be taken into account as the province is tired of rape cases,” Fanayo argued.
She added that the victim’s rights had been violated at the very place where she was supposed to find comfort.
“The victim is a minor and this offence happened at her home. As stated in previous testimonies, the mother of the child does not stay at the house and the victim has absolutely no choice but to stay with her grandmother. The fact that the accused was living in the same house is an indication that the victim has no say about what happens in the house,” she said.
In summing up the evidence presented, Clarke stated that Olipant had never married.
“He dropped out of school in Grade 8 and is the father of three adult children. He is not a first offender, he has a previous conviction for rape... though it happened in the 1980s, it needs to be taken into consideration. He has been receiving a disability grant but due to his age, the grant has been converted to an old age grant,” Clarke said.
“The accused was convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl. He was found in the toilet with the complainant after the latter wanted to use the toilet but found the accused inside. The accused grabbed the complainant when she wanted to leave the toilet and promised to give her money not to make a noise. The accused then raped her. A neighbour went to help the child after hearing her screams.”
Clarke said that he reluctantly had to take the substantial circumstances into consideration as well.
“The accused is in a wheelchair. He did not use a weapon and the complainant did not suffer any injuries. Medical evidence proved that the accused only penetrated the vaginal lips of the complainant and her hymen is still intact. Due to this evidence I have to consider an appropriate sentence and take all circumstances into consideration,” Clarke added.
Prior to sentencing Oliphant, Clarke said rape was a serious crime that did not just affect the victim but society as a whole.
“Rape is such a serious crime that it evokes rage in all right-thinking members of society. The courts have the responsibility of bringing perpetrators of such acts to book and society demands the maximum sentence for perpetrators. Failure to do so erodes the public’s confidence in the justice system,” he said.
Clarke made reference to a statement by Judge Davis in the State versus Jansen case of 1999.
“Rape of a child is an appalling and perverse abuse of male power. It strikes a blow at the very core of our claim to be a civilised society... it is utterly terrifying that we live in a society where children cannot play in the streets in any safety, where children are unable to grow up in the kind of climate in which they should be able to demand in any decent society, namely freedom and without fear,” Clarke quoted.
In handing down his sentence, he said that the Department of Social Services had failed the victim.
“The accused was trusted by the victim, so trusted that despite the fact that he and the grandmother were no longer involved, he still stayed at the house. He was not paying rent to stay there but only bought food and electricity. It was wrong of social welfare not to remove the child from these circumstances. It seems that once again society and welfare have failed the child,” Clarke said.
He added that because of the relationship and the respect the victim had for the accused, it appeared that he had spent time planning his deed.
“The accused was 59 years old when he committed this crime. At some time before the crime, he had ample time to plan his crime and he had ample time to stop his crime. He, however, chose to carry out his hideous act. He has shown that he still has no respect for the child because when he was asked how the child was coping, he answered that ‘she is just a child’,” Clarke said.
He said that the victim’s future decisions have been violated.
“The accused took away the victim’s privilege of choosing who she first wants to share her body with in a loving way when she is grown up. There is no doubt that the victim was traumatised by the deed and it can not be ruled out that this will have an impact on her when she is an adult.”
Clarke said that Oliphant’s name would now appear on the national register for sexual offenders, and added that he hoped the sentence would serve as a deterrent to future offenders.
Diamond Fields Advertiser