Pretoria - The fact that the so-called Facebook serial rapist was extremely kind to his victims, had a nice personality and even befriended them for up to a year on social media before he agreed to meet them, made him even more dangerous.
This is according to the State, who asked the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Friday to send 19-year-old Sedzani Muthuhadini Ndou of Mamelodi to jail for a very long time.
He raped five women over a few months between 2016 and 2017 before he was eventually caught when one of the victims set him up.
Read:
Mamelodi Facebook serial rapist pleads guilty
Ndou pleaded guilty to 11 counts of rape - some of his victims were raped twice or more - as well as to robbing each of them of their cellphones and money.
Ndou, who had just turned 18 when he went on his rape spree, said he had no idea why he did it. His concerned parents and family members who sat behind him in support in the public gallery in court on Friday, said they, too, had no idea why “this sweet boy” could rape women.
Ndou was described as a God-fearing man by pastors of the church where he used to play the piano during services.
Judge Eben Jordaan was told that apart from the five young victims, “a famous soccer star” was also a victim. The prosecution would not reveal his name, but Ndou used the Facebook picture of the handsome, well-built soccer hero to lure his victims and pretended to be him.
They were delighted to befriend their good-looking hero and could not wait to meet him.
But Ndou was the one who arrived at the meeting spot, where he pretended to be part of the soccer star’s family. He told them the star was running late, but had asked him to meet them and to take them to his house.
Ndou had his victims walk through a dark park, where he suddenly pounced on them.
The police warned the soccer star about the scam when it came to light that “his Facebook friends” were being raped. According to the police, the man was shocked and upset when they arrived during one of his soccer practice sessions and informed him.
Ndou told a social worker that during the time of the incidents, he had spent a lot of time on social media. He admitted that he used a fake profile picture to lure his victims and that they communicated for long on Facebook and later via WhatsApp before they decided to meet each other.
The meeting spot was always a Spar in Mamelodi.
Ndou said that as he was young, he did not understand the consequences of his actions and he thought he would never be caught. He explained that he used the same strategy to meet all his victims, but said he would have liked to become involved in a relationship with one of them.
He met his last Facebook friend in January last year at the Spar. But unknown to him, it was a trap and the police arrested him.
Prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen said that if it had not been for that brave young woman, Ndou would still be prowling on unsuspecting young women.
Ndou told the social worker he wanted to ask his victims’ forgiveness as he was now a changed man and had learned his lesson. According to him he even gives motivational speeches at the prison where he is being held.
His family described him as a very respectful person who grew up in a Christian household. His pastors described him as a “devoted church member”.
The defence called on the court to have mercy and suggested that 30 years in jail was a suitable sentence.
The State, on the other hand, said this was a case of public importance as social media posed a danger to many unsuspecting victims.
Judge Jordaan said he wanted to think about a sentence as this was a difficult case due to Ndou’s young age. Sentencing will be on Monday.