Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal man accused of raping three minor children opted to abandon his bail application in court on Monday.
The 37-year-old man who cannot be named until he pleads because he faces rape charges, appeared in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The National Prosecuting Authority in KZN said the man faces seven counts of rape.
“The man, a soccer coach, is alleged to have raped the minor children from November 2022 to May 2023,” spokesperson Natasha Kara said.
“In court he abandoned his application for bail and the matter was adjourned to 26 June 2023 for further investigations.”
The three victims are male, aged between 10 and 15.
The man is believed to have coached soccer in the community.
In another incident also in KZN, a 25-year-old man who pretended to be a soccer coach was arrested for allegedly raping children as young as 12.
The Daily News reported that the man and his 32-year-old co-accused faced charges of rape, incitement or inducing another person to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault, child abuse, and compelling or causing children to witness a sexual offence.
At the time police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the victim alleged that during the month of December 2019, he was recruited by a person who introduced himself as a soccer coach.
"He promised him that he will play for one of the Premier Soccer League junior teams. The coach went to the young boy’s home where he produced forms for the family to fill in,” Mbele said at the time.
“The forms stated that their son was going to join a soccer academy. The family gave consent as they thought their young son was going to realize his dream of playing soccer in a professional environment.”
IOL