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On Monday, the Oudtshoorn regional court sentenced a pastor to 54 years in prison after he was found guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual assault, and 26 counts of child pornography.
In 2003, the accused, who cannot be identified because the complainants were family members, sexually assaulted and raped a 13-year-old at his home, office, and church. The victim reported the incident to the police in 2018.
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According to NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, the pastor also sexually assaulted and raped his 14-year-old adopted daughter in his home, office, and church.
The man was also convicted on 26 counts of child pornography after downloading images from the internet. He denied that the girls in the downloaded images were underage. The state presented the testimony of an expert witness who testified that the girls were indeed under the age of 18. The accused admitted to having a pornographic addiction.
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Nicolette Bell, the Western Cape director of public prosecutions, welcomed the sentence and expressed shock at the pastor’s abuse of power over children who trusted him.
“We condemn any form of violence against women and children. We hope this sentence sends a stern message to other would-be rapists and abusers of children that the courts will do all in their power to send them to jail for a very long time,” Bell said.