An East London man who sexually assaulted girls as young as four years old has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Grahamstown High Court sitting in East London.
The 58-year-old trucker, who cannot be identified as he is related to some of the victims, was sentenced on April 11.
He was found guilty on eight charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
The crimes were committed between 1992 and 2014 in East London’s West Bank suburb and in the Komani (formerly Queenstown) area.
In addition to the life sentence, he also received 17 years in jail for two counts of indecent assault, eight years for attempted rape, 25 years for three counts of sexual assault and 15 years for rape. The court ordered the jail terms to run concurrently with the life sentence.
Four of the girls were in a safe house run by a relative of the 58-year-old when the abuse took place. They were in the safe house because they were already victims of rape.
Another victim, a boy, is the perpetrator’s stepson.
High court documents reveal that:
- During 1992 and 1999 the convicted rapist unlawfully and intentionally committed sexual assaults on a young girl;
- Between 1999 and 2000 the accused attempted to have sexual intercourse with the same victim, who was then a teenager;
- In the same period, he committed indecent assault in Komani on a young boy;
- He also sexually assaulted a girl and later raped her;
- He sexually assaulted another girl who was between the ages of six and eight and also raped her; and
- He sexually assaulted another girl.
The court revealed that one of the victims had reported the rapist to her mother but her story was disregarded.
“At the age of 16, the victim left the house,” read the court document.
The victims reported that at times they were paid small sums of money by the rapist.
These cases were later reported to police by parents of some of the victims and victims who left the safe house in April 2014.
The matter was investigated by Detective Sergeant Bubele Dyasi of the East London Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations Unit.
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said Dyasi had been commended for his work in securing the conviction. “East London cluster commander Major-General Lungile Nqamqele commended the member for the sterling work and for how he handled the case as it involved victims of rape who were left traumatised by the events,” said Mqala.
EL rapist gets life sentence
The 58-year-old trucker, who cannot be identified as he is related to some of the victims, was sentenced on April 11.
He was found guilty on eight charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
The crimes were committed between 1992 and 2014 in East London’s West Bank suburb and in the Komani (formerly Queenstown) area.
In addition to the life sentence, he also received 17 years in jail for two counts of indecent assault, eight years for attempted rape, 25 years for three counts of sexual assault and 15 years for rape. The court ordered the jail terms to run concurrently with the life sentence.
Four of the girls were in a safe house run by a relative of the 58-year-old when the abuse took place. They were in the safe house because they were already victims of rape.
Another victim, a boy, is the perpetrator’s stepson.
High court documents reveal that:
The court revealed that one of the victims had reported the rapist to her mother but her story was disregarded.
“At the age of 16, the victim left the house,” read the court document.
The victims reported that at times they were paid small sums of money by the rapist.
These cases were later reported to police by parents of some of the victims and victims who left the safe house in April 2014.
The matter was investigated by Detective Sergeant Bubele Dyasi of the East London Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations Unit.
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said Dyasi had been commended for his work in securing the conviction. “East London cluster commander Major-General Lungile Nqamqele commended the member for the sterling work and for how he handled the case as it involved victims of rape who were left traumatised by the events,” said Mqala.
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