Rustenburg - A 58-year-old former department of education subject advisor in the Eastern Cape was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a six-year-old learner.
Louis Pepping was sentenced by the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Mthatha.
Pepping is currently serving a four-year imprisonment term for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old learner in June 2021 while out on bail, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Eastern Cape division, Luxolo Tyali, said.
Delivering judgment, Acting Judge Mvuzo Notyesi agreed with the senior State advocate, Mbulelo Nyendwana, that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances justifying a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence of life for raping a minor, Tyali said.
"On 1 September 2019, the victim was sent to buy chips at a spaza shop near her home in Ngobozana Locality in the district of Lusikisiki. When she did not return as expected, her siblings were asked to go look for her as it was getting dark. After a while, the victim’s grandmother joined the search and found the victim with one of her siblings. She noticed that the victim was shivering and bleeding from her private parts,“ said Tyali.
“The victim led her grandmother, together with some members of the community, to the house belonging to Pepping, and identified him as the person who had grabbed her from the street and raped her in his room.”
Tyali said community members assaulted Pepping until he was rescued by a traditional leader who summoned the police.
“The victim was taken to the St Elizabeth Hospital Thuthuzela Care Centre, where she was examined before being transferred to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, due to the severity of her injuries. A sheet with blood stains and DNA were retrieved from Pepping’s room. He was immediately arrested and taken to hospital as he had sustained injuries from being assaulted by community members.”
Tyali said the court was not impressed by the evidence presented in the mitigation of the sentence, that Pepping was a church elder and had four children whose names he did not even know.
“It concurred with the prosecution that Pepping is a highly educated man who should have known better. The court ordered that his name be entered into the national register of sex offenders.”
IOL