Olievenhoutbosch man sentenced to life for raping stepdaughter
The man violated his stepdaughter repeatedly from 2018 until 2020.
A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to three life terms in prison for the repeated rape of his 11-year-old stepdaughter.
The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court handed down the verdict on November 11 and ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the man was deemed unfit to possess a firearm, and his name has been added to the National Register for Sexual Offenders.
Mahanjana said the abuse reportedly occurred over several years while the man was in a relationship with the victim’s mother, from 2013 until their separation in 2020.
She said the three incidents took place at the man’s residence in Olievenhoutbosch during times when the mother was away.
“On October 12, 2018, while the mother of the victim had gone to hospital to give birth to a child she shares with the man, he forcefully removed the victim’s clothes, silenced her from screaming and then proceeded to rape her.”
Mahanjana said the second incident reportedly occurred in July 2020, when the victim’s mother had gone to visit her mother.
“The victim was left in the care of the stepfather, who returned home intoxicated that night.”
She said when the man arrived home, he ate and proceeded to the room where the victim was sleeping and raped her again.
“Afterwards he threatened her, telling her that she would be homeless and starve if she reported the assault,” she said.
The final incident took place later that year after the mother had ended her relationship with the man.
“On the day of the incident, the victim and her younger sibling were left in the care of the man while the mother visited her grandmother.”
Mahanjana said the stepfather raped the victim once again but she only revealed the trauma she had endured later after her mother noticed concerning injuries during a bath.
After pressing her further, the victim eventually told her mother what the stepfather had done.”
The mother promptly reported the assaults to the police, leading to the man’s arrest later that day.
The stepfather pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied raping the victim.
However, Prosecutor Advocate Emile van der Merwe presented compelling evidence, including testimony from the victim and other witnesses that proved that the man had indeed raped the child.
During sentencing, Van der Merwe described the man’s actions as gruesome and a breach of trust placed on him as a parental figure.
“He was trusted, but instead manhandled and violated the child.”
The magistrate agreed, stating that the man had raped someone who called him “papa”.
She said she could find no compelling reason to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
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*Please note the article has been amended.
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