Rape accused says he was set up

Stephen 'Foxy' Isaacs.

Stephen 'Foxy' Isaacs.

Published May 16, 2012

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The man accused of the brutal rape and attempted murder of a young girl says he was set up.

Stephen “Foxy” Isaacs took the stand at the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

He told the court the 10-year-old girl who named him as her attacker was told to say he did it.

Isaacs, 41, told the court that he had been on short time at the factory where he worked during the week before the events of October 23, 2010.

He said he left home shortly after 11am and took a walk to the Darling main road.

He bought some toiletries, cigarettes, a six-pack of beers and something to eat before heading to Taanie Evita se Tuin where he ate his food.

Then he headed home, but first stopped and sat under trees to finish his beer.

He then went to a friend in Third Avenue and finished “eight or nine quarts of beer” that left him “pleasantly intoxicated”.

Trial Judge Lee Bozalek suggested drinking so much would leave him “pretty intoxicated”.

Isaacs replied: “No, in our community we drink from a young age, personally I have been drinking since I was 12.”

He said he went home at about 7pm for supper and then to the shop for cigarettes.

On his way back home he stopped at a shebeen to drink some more.

He said he went home and the next morning (Saturday) he did his washing.

Isaacs testified that he was with friends the Saturday evening when he got a call from his landlord accusing him of rape.

“I responded: ‘Moenie k** praat nie, ek is nou by die huis’,(Don’t talk s***, I’m at home now) “ Isaacs told the court.

He said he started walking home but started having second thoughts along the way.

“Leaving the house [I was at] it was my intention [to go home] but I kept thinking rape, child, rape, child, this means prison and I didn’t want to go to prison for something I didn’t do. I panicked,” he said.

“I wanted to go home but I was scared… I didn’t have a clear plan or intention, I just wanted to get away.

“I started walking, my mind was in turmoil, I eventually ended up in Strand.”

Isaacs told the court he stayed there with his sister and her boyfriend for two weeks working as a bricklayer.

“All I told them was that I had trouble in Darling and there were false allegations against me,” he said.

“I adopted an ostrich mentality, stick my head in the sand and everything is OK.”

Isaacs was arrested two weeks later.

During cross-examination by prosecutor Jacomina Swart, Isaacs denied having contact with the 10-year-old victim on the day she was attacked.

“The child suffered trauma… none of us know the trauma she suffered,” he said.

“But I can only guess that she is confused and that she was led to believe it was me.

“It may have been suggested to her: “Was dit nie Stephen nie?’ (Was it Stephen?) “

Take one look at Stephen “Foxy” Isaacs and you’d be forgiven for assuming he is uneducated.

His missing front teeth, gaunt cheekbones and sinister smile add to the impression that this man wouldn’t know his way around a library.

But the 41-year-old man is in fact very well-spoken and eloquent.

With his hands held behind his back, Isaacs was calm while addressing the court on Tuesday.

And at times, he left the impression that he had spent hours rehearsing what he would say about his alleged role in the horrific events that unfolded in the little town of Darling in October 2010.

Isaacs was careful not to accuse the little girl of lying but instead said that she was “confused” when she named him as her attacker.

He remained composed throughout his testimony and said he ran away because he was “panic-stricken”.

But his mask slipped when prosecutor Jacomina Swart told him he panicked because the girl survived.

In response he snarled: “I panicked because I was accused of raping a child.”

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

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