A 59-YEAR-OLD man from Mayberry Park was found guilty of repeatedly raping his mentally challenged 23-year-old stepdaughter for eight years.
The sentence was handed down in the South Gauteng High Court located in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on May 28.
Seven state witnesses gave evidence before the state closed its case. The accused, in his testimony, denied all the allegations against him.
According to state testimony, the accused forced his stepdaughter to watch him masturbate, and also had sexual intercourse with her while watching pornographic movies. The accused spent his first night in jail on May 28. Sentencing is scheduled for September 25.
The man was formally charged with rape on March 1, 2017. He appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on March 2 and was detained to give the SAPS the opportunity to confiscate his firearm. He reappeared in the magistrate’s court on March 3 and was subsequently released on R3 000 bail.
The victim has cognitive abilities of a six-year-old child. The sexual abuse started when she was about 14. The mother and the stepfather had been together for 18 years at that time.
The victim disclosed the offence when the house mother of Lewenslig Centre for adults with disabilities in Vanderbijlpark, noticed that she had shaved her pubic area. When the house mother questioned why she shaved that area, she said her stepfather told her to do so.
During the assessments by a forensic psychologist in Benoni, the victim disclosed that the stepfather also made her watch pornographic movies. She further disclosed that she was very scared, as her stepfather told her that if she told anybody about the offence, he would shoot her mother, brother and dogs.
“My child is bothered with death, and he knows it,” said the mother.
The victim went for a J88 medical examination at the Rape Centre in Germiston, and the tests confirmed forceful penetration. The victim was tested for HIV and pregnancy, but these tests were negative.
When the mother confronted her husband, he denied all wrongdoing, and asked his wife to believe him.
The mother told the RECORD that she knew her child could never make up these kinds of stories. There was just too much information for the allegations to be false.
The mother and her children moved out of the home six weeks after the disclosure for their safety. She told the RECORD that her only priority was to support her daughter on her journey to recovery.
She also told the RECORD that she could not understand how her husband, who had been her daughter’s stepfather since she was four years old, and who had stood by her through all of her health challenges, could do this to her child.
She also could not understand how she did not realise that something was wrong.
The mother said that her husband’s action “took everything away from her child”. “My daughter is so traumatised and scared that she sometimes sleeps on the floor between the dogs to feel safe. She also shows separation anxiety when I am not with her.”
The mother would like to warn parents to be vigilant.
“We teach our children to be cautious of strangers, but statistics shows that the majority of children who fall victim to sexual assault are violated by the people closest to them. We should change our dialogue with our children, and teach them from a young age that they are in control of their bodies. We should not allow uncles, aunts and other people to hug and kiss our children. We are sending mixed messages to our children about who they can allow to touch and who should not.
“Remember, grooming (for sexual abuse) can start with a friendly hug, a playful kiss in the neck, sitting on their favourite uncle’s lap or playful tickling, and before they know it, it takes an evil turn, and our children are left exposed and vulnerable,” she said.
