Child rapist’s appeal dismissed

He then raped her and made her sit with him on a rock until family members of the victim, who had been alerted by her two friends, approached the scene. He then ran away.

The victim’s one friend testified that when the appellant approached and grabbed the girl, she tried to intervene and kicked him in the stomach. He then pelted her with stones. The girl was only seen by a medical practitioner on the morning after the incident and according to his evidence, he could find no injuries on the complainant. According to the doctor this factor could point to either consensual intercourse or the fact that the complainant had been sexually active prior to the incident.

The DNA result of the samples collected from the girl matched the DNA result of Gouw’s blood sample.

“The appellant’s version that he had no sexual or even physical contact with the complainant and that he was falsely implicated in the matter for reasons not very clear, was in my view correctly rejected by the court,” Judge Cecile Williams said.

In handing down her decision on the appeal application, Judge Williams further pointed out that Gouws, who was 37 years old at the time of the incident, had numerous previous convictions.

“The most telling of these is a conviction of rape during 2001 for which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The appellant could clearly not be rehabilitated since this offence was committed eight years later, after an apparent early release,” Judge Williams said in her ruling.

“The present conviction – that of rape of a person under the age of 16 years – attracts a sentence of life imprisonment in terms of the minimum sentence provisions.

“The appeal against both conviction and sentence is dismissed.”