Court upholds former school coach’s sentence
He will still be serving 21 years in jail for raping and sexually abusing three young boys.
A former high school sports coach from Hoërskool Hugenote has had his bid, in the Pretoria High Court, to appeal against his effective 21 year jail sentence for raping and sexually abusing three young boys dismissed.
Jacques Strydom (32), in his appeal case, appeared before acting judge TP Mudau after he was sentenced by Magistrate Ian Cox in the Benoni Regional Court on July 1, 2013.
He has to serve an effective 21 years after he received a total of 31 years’ imprisonment after he was sentenced to 10 years each on two counts of rape, three years each on two counts of sexual assault and another five years on the third sexual assault.
It was also ordered that his personal details be entered in the register for sexual offenders.
Strydom was arrested in 2009 after children, who he had coached, laid charges against him.
At the time the crimes were committed, Strydom was director of sport at Hugenote, and a bachelor who lived with friends.
Mudau said Strydom’s modus operandi was ingenious and simple, as the incidents were preceded by sexual grooming where he first established a relationship of trust with the boys and their parents.
