A 28-year-old man was sentenced to life behind bars in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court, last Thursday for repeatedly raping his neighbour, who he lured to his residence by inviting him to play video games.

The heinous assaults took place in March 2013, when at the time the rapist was 20 years-old and his victim only four.

Regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, says that the man would fetch the boy from the home of his nanny under false pretences and rape him.

“The man lived in the same block of flats in Phoenix as the boy and his mother. However, at some point, his mother grew ill and required a stay in hospital. During this time, the boy would be left in the care of a nanny, who also lived in the same block of flats.

“The accused would regularly fetch the boy from the nanny’s flat, under the pretence of playing video games, but would rape him instead. This occurred multiple times. On the last occasion, the child spoke to the nanny about what happened. The nanny confronted the man, who denied it,” says Ramkisson-Kara.

The NPA says after the mother recovered, she was not told of the rape. She and the boy moved to Johannesburg and in 2019, after finding the boy watching pornography at only 10 years-old, she finally discovered what had happened six years earlier.

“She asked him where he had learnt about this kind of material and he told her that he was exposed to porn when his neighbour raped him. She took him to a psychiatrist for help and they then opened a case against the man,” adds Ramkisson-Kara.

The accused handed himself over to the police in April 2019 but denied any wrongdoing. In the absence of medical evidence, regional court prosecutor, Ishara Sewnarayan, led the testimony of the boy as well as his mother and the nanny, to bolster the state’s case in aggravation of sentence.

Sewnarayan handed in a Victim Impact Statement to the court.

This statement, compiled by the young victim and facilitated by court preparation officer, Bongiwe Qwabe, highlighted how the boy is still facing the psychological trauma of the incident and struggling to come to terms with it.

“In the letter, the boy said he is still dealing with the effects of the rape. He is being treated for depression and is constantly on medication. He has lost trust in all men and cannot have a normal relationship with his father. This is very upsetting for him,” says Ramkisson-Kara.

The Verulam Magistrates Court sentenced the man to life imprisonment. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. The court ruled that his name be entered into the National Register for Sexual Offenders.

The NPA commends the work of the prosecuting and investigating teams in securing this successful prosecution.

“While we encourage victims of abuse to speak out as soon as possible, this matter demonstrates that justice can still be done even after a few years,” says Ramkisson-Kara.