SECUNDA – A man who raped a toddler with his finger was slapped with 20 years’ imprisonment for each time that he committed the crime against the little girl.
Henry van der Berg, a diesel mechanic by trade and in his 50’s, was sentenced in the Secunda Regional Court dealing with sexual offences on Wednesday, 15 August for raping his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter twice in this manner in 2010.
The child had been removed and was placed in foster care.
Magistrate Graham Cupido declared Van der Berg’s actions as despicable. He stated a quote that rape is a proverbial cancer in society.
“It is the brutal invasion of privacy and dignity of a person.”
Mr Cupido said the fact that the toddler trusted Van der Berg and referred to him as Pappa Henry and also sustained injuries, should be taken as aggravating circumstances.
“You misused the trust. Most sexual abuses happen in the safety of a child’s own home,” Mr Cupido told Van der Berg.
Van der Berg said in his mitigation that he did not penetrate the child with his penis, but his hand.
To this, Mr Cupido said since 2007 rape is described in the law as penetration with any object.
He also said Van der Berg violated the child’s constitutional rights as a child and took her virginity.
Van der Berg was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for each count of rape. These sentences will run concurrently.
His name will be entered into the national database for sexual offenders and he will never be allowed to work with children or own a firearm.
Also read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/ridge-times/122428/two-girls-rescued-alleged-brothel-embalenhle/
