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A 56-year-old Northern Cape man has been sentenced to 115 years in prison for sexual offences against minors.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson for the Northern Cape Mojalefa Senokoatsane said the man was convicted in the De Aar regional court of numerous charges.
“These charges included rape, compelled rape, sexual assault and sexual grooming,” Senokoatsane said.
“The accused was arrested after a minor male victim who was living with the accused reported at school that he started experiencing sexually inappropriate behaviour from the accused.”
The matter was reported to the police and the man was arrested in October 2021. “During his bail application in the Philipstown district court, the prosecution successfully opposed his bail application.”
After the arrest, the police uncovered several other victims.
“They were willing to come to the fore. The investigations revealed that the accused started sexually abusing young boys as young as 11 in 1999.”
According to Senokoatsane, several boys lived with the accused “over the years”.
“He sexually abused them over several years until his eventual arrest in October 2021. The accused was charged with 18 counts of contravention of the Sexual Offences Act.
“The charges includes rape, compelled rape, sexual assault and possession of 734 images and 172 videos of child pornography. With the insurmountable evidence against the accused, he pleaded guilty to all 18 counts,” Senokoatsane said.
“The consultations with the victims and state witnesses led by state advocate Tevaughnay van Wyk, working with the court preparation officer, Sinazo Ndletyana, took about one year to complete.”
Senokoatsane said the prosecution encountered numerous challenges in trying to finalise this matter.
“One being that most of the children did not want to testify against the accused and this posed a hurdle in the prosecution of the matter.
“The message the state wishes to instil in society is that parents or guardians should take concerns raised by their children with an assertive stance and report to our authorities immediately any indications of possible sexual abuse so that these cases can be investigated and prosecuted,” Senokoatsane said.
“In sentencing, the court sentenced the accused to 115 years for the crimes he committed against children. He was sentenced to five years for indecent assault, 10 years for rape, 10 years for compelled rape, five years for sexual assault, 10 years for incitement to commit sexual offence, five years for sexual assault, five years for flashing, five years for instructing another to commit sexual offence, 5 years for compelled sexual assault, 10 years for rape, five years for causing a child to witness sexual act, five years for sexual assault, 10 years for compelled rape, five years for sexual assault and five years for possession of child pornographic images.”
The sentences will run concurrently, meaning the man will serve an effective 30 years’ imprisonment.
“This sentence validates the NPA’s commitment to continue fighting the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) particularly against women and children,” Senokoatsane said.
TimesLIVE
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