Durban: A Verulam stepfather who repeatedly raped his minor stepdaughter after the death of her mother and also trafficked her has received 9 life sentences behind bars.
The 46-year-old man who cannot be named to protect the identity of his minor daughter was jailed in the Durban High Court. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial following his arrest in 2018. He was convicted in December last year.
The victim was used to create child pornography, raped repeatedly and forced to perform sex acts.
Police said the victim, a 9-year-old girl, had lost her mother in 2014 and was left in the care of her stepfather.
According to police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala: “The father turned into a monster when he started to see the innocent girl as his sex slave rather than his precious daughter.
“He started to be abusive towards the girl, locked her in the house and refused to allow her to be like any other nine-year-old child. Fearing the young girl will share his dirty deeds with her friends he continued to lock her in the house.”
Gwala said in 2018, the stepfather lost his temper, assaulted the victim and chased her out the house.
“The girl got the opportunity to run to her neighbour, told her about her abusive stepfather and the constant abuse she suffered on a daily bases under his care.
“The neighbour called the police and the members of the community heard that the father was abusing the victim and assaulted him. He was rescued by police and was taken to hospital under police guard.”
Gwala said a case was subsequently opened at Phoenix SAPS where he was charged for numerous counts of rape, sexual grooming, using child pornography, possession of child pornography, distributing child pornography, sexual assault, human trafficking, conspiracy to commit sexual offences, child abuse, compelling a child to witness sexual acts, incitement to commit sexual offences, sexual grooming and sexual exploitation.
“The accused pleaded not guilty. However, after overwhelming evidence was presented against him, he was convicted.”
The man received eight life imprisonments for rape, life imprisonment for human trafficking and an additional 173 years on the other counts.
Acting Provincial Commissioner for KwaZulu-Natal Major General Thulani Gonya commended the detective who worked tirelessly on the case and for securing the sentence.
“The work displayed by our dedicated member must always be applauded and we will continue to pride ourselves with detectives of such calibre. We are delighted the young girl is receiving all the help she needs and we are confident she will come up even more strong,” he said.
IOL