The Pretoria High Court, sitting in Benoni, on Friday sentenced a 41-year-old father to two life terms plus 83 years for rape and child pornography among other offences.
The incidents happened between 2012 and 2021. For nine years the father committed horrific sexual acts on his daughter and his two stepsons. Lumka Mahanjana, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson said at the time the incidents happened, the two boys were aged between six and 14 years old. The daughter was still an infant aged between seven months and eight years of age.
“These offences took place in their home when the mother of the children was at work and the children were left in his care. When at work, he would often ask he minor boys to take pictures of their sister’s private parts and send them to him for his pleasure,” Mahanjana said.
The man was arrested in February 2021, when one of the children informed one of the family members about what was happening, and the matter was reported to the police. “The rest of the children then later opened up about their experiences as well. The man has been in custody since his arrest,” Mahanjana said.
Prosecutor, Advocate Jeffery Nethononda said the father abused his powers as a father and had no regard for the children’s rights. “The degradation of children through child pornography is a serious harm which impairs their dignity and devalues their worth. Moreover, the children will be traumatised for life because of what they were put through.”
“Therefore, there were no compelling circumstances advanced by him to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence,” said Nethononda.