Sunnyside man sentenced for prostituting a 12-year-old
"During this period, he fed her drugs and forced her to have sex with between five to six men a day."
A 44-year-old Sunnyside man has been sentenced to three life terms for human trafficking, rape, statutory rape and sexual exploitation of a 12-year-old girl.
Augustine Omini Obono was also on Thursday, found guilty and sentenced to three years for kidnapping and seven years for running a brothel by the Gauteng North High Court sitting in Benoni.
On 3 September 2016, while the minor was at a park in Derdepoort for a picnic with her friends, she met a woman who asked her to accompany her to a flat in Sunnyside where she will be meeting a man, NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.
“The woman promised the minor that she would give her taxi money to go to Mamelodi the following morning.
“When they arrived at the flat in Sunnyside, the woman handed the minor over to Obono for purposes of sexual exploitation or for her to be used as a prostitute.”
Mahanjana said Obono kept the minor in the flat for three months.
“During this period, he fed her drugs and forced her to have sex with between five to six men a day. In December 2016, the minor eventually managed to escape and went to her uncle’s place in Mamelodi.
“When she arrived, she informed her uncle of what had happened. The uncle reported the matter to the police and the minor pointed out the flat where she was kept,” Mahanjana said.
“When the police went into the flat, they found Obono and arrested him and he has been in custody since.
“The National Prosecuting Authority sexual offences and community affairs unit referred the minor for counselling.
“Advocate Roos asked the judge to impose the minimum prescribed sentence, saying that a defenceless child was held in captivity by Obono and used as a sex slave while giving her drugs to control her.”
Mahanjana said the NPA welcomed the sentence.
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