CAPE TOWN - Tulbagh child rapist and murderer Jakobus Petoors will on Thursday hear his fate as sentencing proceedings continue in the Western Cape High Court.
After entering a plea agreement with the State, Petoors admitted to the court that he had raped and murdered 8-year-old Reagan Gertse after he lured the boy to go swimming with him at a nearby river.
A repeat offender, Petoors had been out on parole for a 17- year prison sentence for the rape of a 5-year-old boy in Paarl when he committed the offence in Tulbagh on 29 February, 2020.
Recounting the heinous crime, Petoors’ plea documents read: “I knew (Reagan) as they lived very close to me. When I saw him, I decided to call him and we spoke. I told him that I was going to the river to swim as it was a very hot day. He then asked to go with. The river was less than a kilometre from where we lived.”
According to Petoors they then made their way to the river when they were met by another young boy and his mother. The boy had then called Reagan and Reagan wanted to go to him but fell.
“I told him that we should go then placed my arm around his neck and told him he needs to walk further. We continued walking and eventually reached the river. When we got there, I told Reagan that I wanted something from him.
“Reagan wanted to know what (I) wanted and I told him sex. Reagan refused and I then told him to sit at the tree. I then told him to take off his pants and to lay on the ground,” Petoors pleaded.
Petoors detailed how he had pinned Reagan down by the shoulders, who was lying on his back, while raping him.
According to Petoors after the rape, Reagan wanted to go home but Petoors told him he could not go home and at this instance drowned the boy until his body became lifeless.
He then concealed Reagan's body in nearby bushes before returning home.
Reagan’s body was discovered after his parents reported him missing and a search ensued.
Petoors - a father of four - was arrested the day after Reagan’s body was found after a witness said she had last seen them together.
Petoor’s DNA had been found on Reagan’s scrotum and his shorts.
Cape Times