A man has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for the rape and sexual assault of his daughter.
The 56-year-old accused was sentenced in the Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court on February 28 after pleading guilty on April 22 2021. The father of three was charged with two counts – one of rape and one of sexual assault. The crimes were committed between 2010 and 2015. The man admitted to several acts of digital penetration, which is the use of the fingers or digits to penetrate the victim’s genitals.
The father had begun grooming his daughter, the youngest of his three children, from the age of seven. The abuse continued until the age of 12 when his daughter began to ask him pressing questions about his behaviour. The court heard from the clinical psychologist who evaluated the accused that he stopped the acts of sexual abuse because he was afraid his daughter would tell.
The victim would eventually tell her mother in 2018 what her father had done, leading to the couple’s divorce and initiation of criminal proceedings. “In her Victim Impact Statement (VIS) the complainant detailed that it was the education she received from school about relationships and intimacy that made her realise that her father took advantage of her and abused the position of trust,” stated National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane.
Additionally, the VIS detailed how the abuse would happen in a multitude of settings, from in the family study, while receiving piggy-back rides, when watching television or even colouring-in a picture while at his office. The trauma of her ordeals have led to severe depression, and the VIS states that she felt the 15 years of her life had vanished because all her good memories have been tainted by cruel and horrific abuse.
In mitigation of sentence, the defence argued that the accused’s age and that he was a first-time offender should be taken into account, as well his unlikelihood to re-offend and their belief that he had stopped the abuse on his own accord. Earlier, the accused’s ex-wife’s reliance on his financial assistance was also raised but was not taken into account as the court believed other arrangements could be made.
With the charges carrying the possibility of life imprisonment, Magistrate Anneline Afrika concluded, “On balanced consideration of the totality of the evidence, this court finds as a substantial and compelling factor that the imposition of the prescribed minimum sentence will be disproportionate to the crime, the criminal and the legitimate needs of society, thus justify the imposition of a lesser sentence, other than the sentence prescribed by the Act.”
Prophetically, the outcome would echo a comment from the victim’s VIS where she said she wanted the court to send the accused to jail for the same length of time that he had stolen from her. The accused was therefore sentenced to 18 years for rape and five years for sexual assault, with both sentences to run concurrently. Spokesperson Mjonondwane concluded, “The NPA abhors crimes of such heinous nature and hopes that the complainant found solace for her lost innocence”.
