A 51-year-old Randfontein man who was convicted on 11 counts – three for indecent assault and seven for rape – was recently sentenced in the Johannesburg High Court.
Although the perpetrator’s name is known to the Herald, he cannot be identified for the sake of his victims.
He received a life sentence for each rape, and 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the three counts of indecent assault. He will be imprisoned for life, since that is the prescribed minimum sentence for the seven rapes, and his other sentences will, in terms of section 39(2)(a)(1) of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998, run concurrently with the life sentence.
In February this year, the Herald reported that the stepfather was caught after the older stepdaughter, who had been raped since she was 11 years old, told her tragic story, seven years after the horrific events. Now 18, she told the court that while her stepfather looked after them financially, she had never liked him.
Read more here: 51-year-old man convicted of raping both young stepdaughters
She said she recalled the first incident, which occurred just after the birth of her half-brother, when her stepfather indecently assaulted her with his finger. She said she didn’t report the incident because she didn’t know that it was wrong at the time. She then told the court that he began raping her on a regular basis when she was in Grade 8.
She told her school psychologist that she could not report the matter because he had threatened her. Later she discovered he was sexually assaulting her sister as well. She also recalled how she tried to commit suicide just after he was arrested. Judge Moosa said her evidence made it clear that she had never given her stepfather permission to touch her.
She also told the court that she has many memories she wants to erase. She was medically examined by a doctor who confirmed evidence of penetration. The doctor said that her younger sister, who was seven years old when her stepfather began to sexually assault her, had also sustained vaginal trauma and the injuries showed clearly that she had been penetrated on various occasions.
The mother of the two girls said that she had witnessed her husband putting his hand in the older daughter’s underwear but could not confront him about it. She said when she finally confronted him, he denied it.
She wrote a letter requesting him to stop assaulting her children but he denied the allegations. Following his arrest, his family members said the children were lying. After that, he pleaded not guilty on all charges, but was ultimately found guilty.
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