His advanced age did not prevent him from raping two young girls left in his care, but it did count in his favour when the court had to decide on a fitting sentence for the crimes he was convicted of.

Although state prosecutor Harold Engelbrecht argued that the 63-year-old rapist should be sentenced to life behind bars for each count of rape, the court decided to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment, citing the convicted rapist’s age.

Authorities have, however, welcomed the sentence of 20 years’ direct imprisonment imposed by the court for each count of rape of the two young girls who were 10 and 12 years old at the time of the rapes.

The elderly man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his victims, was sentenced last week in the Hermanus Regional Court after entering into a plea agreement with the state.

Eric Ntabazalila, provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, reported that the accused pleaded guilty and confessed he had raped the minors between March and September 2021 when their parents had asked him to look after them.

“The state does not name the accused or the address where the incident occurred to avoid indirectly identifying the victims and exposing them and their families to secondary victimisation,” Ntabazalila explained.

Abusing his position of trust

In his plea statement, the accused told the court he had rented a room from the children’s parents in 2020 before moving to another residence three months later. The mother of the two girls asked him to look after her daughters while she and her husband were at work. He also told the court he helped the children with their homework, and that they trusted him.

The court heard he raped the eldest of the sisters and molested the younger one when they fell asleep in his room one afternoon.

He then told them not to tell their parents.

He claimed he never hurt them physically, but said in his plea agreement he now realised he hurt them mentally and emotionally.

Arguing in aggravation of sentence, Engelbrecht asked the court to sentence the accused to life imprisonment for each of the rape charges.

He stated that the couple entrusted the accused with their children while they went to work.

Instead, said Engelbrecht, the accused abused that trust and committed gruesome crimes. He further argued that the victims were vulnerable children who trusted the accused, that gender-based violence was a scourge affecting children in our communities and the state had a compelling case against the accused after consulting the victims.

justice

The court sentenced the accused to 20 years’ direct imprisonment for each rape charge, but ordered the sentences to run concurrently. It also ordered his name to be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders.

“The NPA accepts the sentence imposed by the court and appeals to parents to be vigilant about the safety of their children,” said Ntabazalila.

Brigadier Donovan Heilbron, deputy district commissioner of the police in the Overberg, added to this saying: “This sentence serves to prove, once again, that when children and women are targeted by unscrupulous criminals the police, in particular our FCS (Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Crimes) Unit, will do everything in their might to bring them to book and ensure justice for the victims.”

He went on to congratulate the Hermanus FCS unit and the NPA for its sterling work that helped to ensure the conviction and sentence.

He added: “It is my sincere hope that this will prove to our communities they can place their trust in the police.”