A 40-year direct imprisonment for child rapist
The perpetrator was supposed to protect the minors but he betrayed that trust in the worst possible way, the state prosecutor argued.
The Pretoria regional court has sentenced a Mamelodi man, convicted for two rapes, to 40 years in prison.
National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) Tshwane spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Christopher Bapela (25) appeared in the court on Monday.
He had earlier been convicted of raping two boys aged between 8 and 10 years old.
She said the terrible incident came to light when one of the boys’ aunts overheard other kids teasing her nephew about the incident.
“When she confronted the minor, he revealed what had happened to him and the other boy. Bapela was then arrested after the mother of one of the boys reported the matter to the police,” Mahanjana said.
She said Bapela pleaded not guilty to the charges during sentencing and asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
Delivering his closing argument, state prosecutor Advocate Don Sithole told the court that, as an adult, Bapela’s role was to protect the boys but he instead betrayed them.
The prosecutor also read into the record, the victim impact statement prepared by social workers that the minor boys were so emotionally and psychologically affected by the incident that one failed his grades at school and is now running a risk of expulsion.
He asked the court to impose a sentence of life in prison.
Magistrate Lesego Makolomakwe agreed saying the harshest sentence fit the crime.
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