A brave 12-year-old girl is free from the clutches of her sinister stepfather, after he was sentenced to 28 years for rape.
The Dundee Magistrates Court found the 60-year-old, who cannot be named, guilty of two counts of rape before Christmas last year.
The stepfather waited until the girl’s mother had gone to work before he entered his stepdaughter’s room on December 21, 2015. He began to touch her inappropriately, while she sat on her bed, despite her continuously begging for him to stop.
He then raped her. The trauma didn’t end there for the little girl. Her stepfather threatened to evict her and her mother from the home if she told anybody about what he had done. He also threatened their lives before giving her R10 to keep quiet about the whole ordeal.
As soon as her mother returned from work, though, she told her what had happened. The mother acted quickly, reporting the matter to police where a case was opened and the victim was taken to the hospital for examination and treatment. The docket was handed to the Dundee Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses (FCS) Unit and Detective W/O BPP Khambule made quick work of investigating the matter. The stepfather was arrested and charged the very next day. After a lengthy court case, he was found guilty and sentenced to 28 years imprisonment for two counts of rape. His sentence will run concurrently as he was sentenced to 18 years and 10 years respectively.
Dundee FCS Unit Commander, Captain Fuller, expressed her absolute pride in her members for always giving their best and ensuring that justice is served.
“It is hoped that this sentence proves that it does not matter how old you are, if you do the crime, you do the time,” she said. Captain Fuller also commended the stepdaughter for reporting the matter so swiftly to her mother and for being a good witness in court.