Durban – Immoral, dark and narcissistic were some of the words Judge Mohini Moodley used to describe a Verulam child rapist during his sentencing in the Durban High Court on Friday.
The man, 46, had used his stepdaughter as a sex slave and repeatedly raped her since she was nine. Moodley said as the child's guardian, the stepfather, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor child, now 13, had betrayed and violated her in the worst way possible.
"The accused ravaged the complainant not only physically but he brought untold damage on her mind and psyche. He has three young children of his own yet (he) had no conscience in violating a young child he considered his own,” said Judge Moodley.
She sentenced him to nine life terms and a further 173 years imprisonment on 33 counts of sexual crimes all of which will run concurrently. Eight life sentences were for rape and one for human trafficking. The accused was not in court to hear the ruling. He refused to participate in proceedings following an outburst during the trial. The sentence was relayed to him via his defence counsel.
He initially faced 56 counts. These were reduced to 36 after the defence disputed the duplication of charges. Of the 36 counts, the accused was found guilty of 33 counts. These include multiple counts of rape, sexual grooming of a child, using a child for pornography, possession and distribution of child pornography, human trafficking, child abuse and sexual exploitation. Apart from the repeated rape, it was found that he forced the child to dress in adult lingerie, do household chores, smoke cannabis and perform indecent acts on him, herself and others.
The accused took custody of the child in 2014 after her mom died. He began raping her in 2017 until his arrest in June 2018. Video footage and images of the sexual acts were found on his cellphone. Sex toys and other paraphernalia were recovered from his home in Riet River.
ISOLATED
Judge Moodley said even before the sexual assaults took place, the accused isolated the child and prevented her from having a stable environment.
"He moved with the complainant from house to house in different provinces and areas within KZN. Therefore, he prevented her from putting down roots or having a stable home environment or making friends and developing relationships or a sense of security, all of which were essential to her development during her childhood years."
She said when the accused suspected that someone was spying on his indecent activities, he did not stop. Instead, he took the child to the beach and raped her.
“The complainant was totally dependent on him for shelter, care and support. She testified that there were times she was tired but the accused insisted sexual demands from her; that he would not desist and would become angry when she said she was tired. She told the court that she was afraid of the accused and that he threatened her and that he would 'put her where her mother was’, by which she understood that he would kill her.
Judge Moodley said the accused capitalised on her helplessness and effectively blackmailed her by telling her that her mother was willing to perform such acts on him.
“I am certain that there was an adherent revulsion to these acts by the complainant but she was too immature and helpless to rebel against.”
Judge Moodley said the accused humiliated, degraded and invaded the privacy, the dignity and the person of the child. She said the facts left no doubt that the accused intended trafficking the complainant and was grooming her, even enlisting one of his girlfriends to assist.
"It is apparent that he recorded his sexual acts to feed his own narcissism, but the accused had a darker and more depraved intent. He posted some of the photographs and videos to attract paedophiles. The complainant testified several times that the accused was going to make money by making her perform sexual acts on other men."
During aggravation of sentence, Cheryl Naidu, the senior state advocate prosecuting in the matter, said prison would be too good for the accused but she asked that he be given life.
“These are sexual offences to a minor who is your own child, need I say more? It makes your insides turn to see the evidence. All things considered, he has not submitted compelling and substantial evidence to suggest anything other than life imprisonment.”
Naidu said the accused also did not show remorse.
“How can you ever do this to your child and expect any mercy from the court? It was immoral at every level.”
She called him a coward and an inveterate liar.
“He couldn’t even stand in the dock and face the accusations.”
LIAR
During mitigation of sentence, advocate Thiagaraj Pillay, the defence counsel, put forward that the accused’s first job was at the SA National Defence Force where he worked for five years. He said at the time of his arrest, he was employed at Sanral and earned R35 000 a month.
Naidu said this was evidence in itself that he was a liar.
“He first told the court that he was working at Mamba Maintenance now we hear this.”
She said he did not keep the child for her benefit but for his own.
“He did not only do it for himself but made her a commodity. One shudders to think if she did not report him, what more could have happened.”
Naidu called Verushka Naidoo, a social worker, to the stand to testify on the victim’s well-being. She said the accused's arrest had an emotional impact on the child and that at some points she felt guilty.
“She had intense nightmares that the accused would find her and take her away. It placed a strain on her and took a toll on her.”
Naidoo said the child was currently at a new school but she found it difficult to adjust and that she was two grades behind – not due to her intellectual ability but as a result of constantly being moved. She said the child was placed in foster care and was still adjusting and that the trial had brought back the nightmares. Naidoo said as the court proceedings progressed, the nightmares dissipated after she realised she was doing the right thing.
She said the child still needed to see a psychologist and proceed with therapeutic intervention to ensure a smooth transition.
Naidu later read out the child’s victim impact statement to the court.
BAD DREAMS
“Before I was a happy child … I enjoyed collecting flowers from outside and would make a bunch of mixed flowers for my mother. I would also like to draw pictures of her and write to her and tell her that I love her … when it was her birthday, I would make her a card. I loved to take care of my mum and sometimes cook food.”
She said after her mom died, she became sad.
“I used to sit and cry all the time. When all the bad things started happening by the accused, I felt my mom left me alone. I was confused and angry when he would ask me to do bad things. Whenever we moved, his girlfriends would not like me and this made me feel sad and unloved. Whenever I look at men, when I look at their eyes, it reminds me of him. It is scary eyes. I feel very scared.”
She said she had bad dreams and that she was afraid the accused would come after her.
“I do not trust men. Sometimes I blame myself and wish I could have done something to stop all the things he did to me but I was too small to help myself.”
At the bottom of the victim impact statement, the child drew a picture of a girl with tears falling from her eyes.
In concluding the trial, Judge Moodley thanked the state and the defence for their hard work as well as Warrant Officer Nevarge Lutchminarain, the investigating officer.
“If there were more officers with your commitment, there would be great progress made against these types of sexual offences and violent crimes committed against young children. I am extremely appreciative of your commitment and hard work.”
Lutchminarain told the POST that it took many long hours and sleepless nights to secure the conviction and sentence.
"I would like to also thank all the relevant role players, who assisted me during my investigation, especially advocate Naidu for putting up a tremendous fight against the defence.”
The Post