Cape Town - A rapist has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Wynberg Regional Court after his DNA was linked to another rape committed while he was on parole.
Edmund Fredericks committed the rape five years ago, but only when his DNA come back from the lab was he arrested.
Fredericks, 44, was charged with the rape of a 49-year-old mother from Grassy Park on October 28, 2017.
The woman had gone to a tavern in the area where she encountered four minors from the school she was working at for engaging with adult men. She tried to intervene and protect the minors but was accosted by Fredericks, taken to a dark room and raped.
He then took her to a nearby field where he held her at knife point and raped her again. She escaped when Fredericks was distracted, but has since been left in a state of trauma.
Police detective Francois Philander, said the suspect was unknown to the victim and they had no leads when the crime was reported.
“What makes this case so awesome from the police side, was that this was an unknown guy, she could only describe him as male, light in complexion, who she would be able to identify – we had nothing to work with.
“The only thing we could work on was when the DNA came back from the lab and we had a linkage, because he was a repeat offender, so obviously his DNA was already on record.
“When the lab processed it, his DNA was found on the body of this victim so that is how he could link him to the offence and that is how the victim was able to identify him,” he said.
Philander said the justice system had failed the victim because Fredericks was on parole when the offence was committed.
He said while the case was a successful conviction, the case presented many other challenges, such as witnesses being threatened by gang members and the trauma the victim faced during this process, which resulted in her losing her job.
State advocate Renee Uys said: “We tend to become desensitised to rape cases because we deal with it every day in sexual offences courts. It will remain a serious offence no matter the surrounding circumstances but in the current South African climate, rape has become a catalyst for further serious and violent crimes against persons.
“The complainant has a real fear of all people now. Even four years later she still has days when getting out of bed seems too much for her. It is thus clear that the long-term effects of the rape cannot be predetermined but the victim impact report is a clear and insightful aid to the court to show the tragic consequence of the accused conduct.”
Fredericks was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment which will run concurrently, an effective sentence of 25 years. He was previously convicted for rape and sexual offences and was on parole at the time of the incident.