CAPE TOWN - Police management in the Western Cape have welcomed the sentencing of a child rapist to life imprisonment.
In a statement released on Thursday, provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Christopher Spies said the 41-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the safety of his victims, was sentenced in the Oudtshoorn Regional Court on Wednesday following several incidents that threatened the safety of four minor children.
The first incident occurred on October 2, 2019, when the man took his son, then 17 years old, to the bathroom on their farm just outside Oudtshoorn under the guise of cutting his hair.
The man then stabbed his son twice with scissors before the child was rescued by his mother.
A case of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) was opened with the police.
Spies said later that year in November, two victims, aged 14, came forward and reported incidents of rape and sexual assault after an incident at Toekomsrus.
He said the man is alleged to have called the girl to his bungalow, where he violated her.
She heard a family member outside, made a noise and managed to escape.
The second girl reported that the man had been threatening and violating her over a period of time.
Spies said a third girl, who was 15 years old at the time, also came forward and told police about a rape incident involving the same man.
“A team of investigators attached to the Oudtshoorn Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) was assembled and following a thorough investigation arrested the suspect on various charges.
“The accused, who has family relations with the victims, was convicted last month.
“He was sentenced as follows: life imprisonment for two counts of rape; 18 years’ imprisonment for rape; six years’ imprisonment for assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm and five years’ imprisonment for sexual assault,” Spies said.
He said the acting provincial police commissioner, Major-General Thembisile Patekile, lauded the detection and prosecuting teams for their diligence and for securing the conviction and sentences against the perpetrator.
Patekile said the lengthy incarceration of the perpetrator should serve as a deterrent to family members who use their family relationship with minors to violate them.
Patekile said such perpetrators who abuse their power will face the full might of the law.
- African News Agency