FOSTER PARENTS AND RELATIVES SENTENCED TO 16 LIFE TERMS AND 110 YEARS IMPRISONMENT
The Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court sentenced 70- and 69-year-old foster parents to 12 life terms and 95 years imprisonment. Two other relatives who are a couple, 43 and 49 years old, were sentenced to 4 life terms and 15 years direct imprisonment. The other two relatives who are also a couple (49) and (39) were given 5 years wholly suspended sentence and 3 years correctional supervision. The magistrate ordered that the sentence should run concurrently , that their names be added on the national register for sexual offenders and be declared unfit to possess a firearm.
This is after they were collectively convicted of 20 counts of sexual offences against 3 minor children aged between 4 years and 9 years, from 2005 until 2010 when they were arrested. Some of the charges they were convicted of were rape, indecent assault, compelled rape, compelled sexual assault, witness sexual acts, sexual grooming as well as child abuse and neglect.
This was discovered after the 6-year-old foster child was taken for school readiness assessment where she disclosed to the educational psychologist that she was being sexually assaulted by her foster parents. After receiving this information, the psychologist reported the matter to the police. During the investigation it was found that the six accused were sexually assaulting both their 2 foster children and their 4 biological children.
The six were arrested in December 2010 at their residence at Hammanskraal and Bultfontein, the children were then taken to a place of safety.
In court they all pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them and denied ever sexually assaulting the children. However, the state was able to provide evidence to prove that the six indeed sexually assaulted the children. In their victim impact statement, the children told the court that what happened to them has affected and continues to affect them as they now find it hard to trust people and maintain relations. They further told the court that they still suffer from the trauma caused by the six. In aggravation of sentence, the prosecutors who dealt with the matter Advocate Cornelia Harmzen and Marie Jonker told the court that the six showed no remorse for their actions. They subjected their own children to the scrutiny of the court where they had to testify using the intermediary services and also relive their trauma. Moreover, the accused were parents to the children, they were in a position of trust, and they betrayed that trust and failed to protect the children.
In his sentence the magistrate Pieter Nel, said the six committed serious offences against their children over a long period of time. Such crimes will surely leave a long impact on the victims and therefore, the sentence given was appropriate.
The NPA welcomes the sentence in this gruesome case involving minor children in hopes that it will send a strong message that such crimes will not be tolerated. We also thank the investigating team of the SAPS and Department of Social Development for their assistence in the case..
The NPA remains committed to prosecute crimes of sexual offences especially against children.
