A 55 year old man was sentenced to life in prison after he raped an eleven year old girl.

Adriaan Jurgens Bezuidenhout has been convicted of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. Magistrate Deon Minnie sentenced Bezuidenhout this week to serve a term of life imprisonment for each of the three rapes he has committed on the child.

In respect of sexual assault he was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The court ordered that these sentences be served concurrently.

In her testimony during trial the child said that the first two incidents occurred on the same day, when she accompanied the accused in a vehicle to a wooded area in the vicinity of Doornkop, to collect fire wood.

Whilst on their way to their destination the accused unzipped his trousers and exposed his penis to her, instructing her to fondle him. She said she complied with his command, as she was scared that the accused might give her a beating if she refused to do so.

Upon their arrival in the wooded area the accused instructed her to undress and he thereupon raped her. After he was done, the accused put on his trousers and they loaded wood onto the vehicle.

During their return journey home the accused warned the complainant not to tell her sister, and threatened that he would beat her if she should disclose the incident. Out of fear for the accused the child complied with this instruction and did not tell anyone.

A subsequent incident occurred sometime after the two incidents in the wooded area. The girl testified that on a particular day she was on her way to the toilet when the accused followed her. Upon her arrival at the toilet, he instructed her to remove her underwear and to bend down and raped her again.

A third incident occurred when she was alone in a bedroom. The accused entered the room and instructed her to remove her underwear and skirt and to lie down on the bed, where he raped her again. She did not tell anyone about this incident immediately.

She only told a family member later what had happened to her.

Bezuidenhout claimed his victim was “a willing partner”. He also admitted on having sex with her the third time and that he allegedly told her “it was wrong and that we should not do it again.”

The social worker who compiled the victim impact report alludes to a number of symptoms of the complex post-traumatic stress disorder from which the complainant suffers, which highlighted the complex impact of sexual abuse on the functioning of the child.

During judgement Magistrate Minnie said that the complainant divulged some telling information to the court.

“This evidence relates to aspects one would logically not assume a 12-year old child to be aware of, unless she has actually experienced sexual interaction.

Her description of how sexual intercourse took place, with particular reference to the fact that the accused made up-and-down movements whilst having sexual intercourse with her, is strongly indicative of a truthful version.

Even more so is her description of the two positions that the two of them had, assumed during the first and third alleged incidents.”

The court scrutinized her evidence and could find no indication that it had been fabricated. Nor was there any indication of any motive she could have had to falsely implicate the accused.”

After considering the totality of the evidence and evidential material, Magistrate Minnie said that the court comes to the conclusion that the accused’s version cannot be reasonably possibly true and that it ought to be rejected as false.

“The court finds that the evidence for the State was reliable, that it proves the commission of the four offences with which the accused has been charged, and that it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the accused who committed these four offences.”