Stepdad pleads guilty to rape

MBOMBELA - A 36-year-old man briefly appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Monday for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded guilty to statutory rape and various other charges, including the possession and manufacturing of pornographic material of a minor, last Tuesday.

According to the evidence obtained by police, the accused raped the girl repeatedly between 2017 and 2019. Investigating officer Capt Adriaan Odendaal said he had been approached by the mother after she had noticed the victim’s strange behaviour. She made some enquiries and discovered that the child had been raped by the stepfather since she was 12.

“When we fetched the victim from school and took her for a medical examination, the stepfather got wind of this and phoned the mother saying he had fetched the other daughter (6) from school and was going to shoot himself and her.”

Odendaal stated that all of the city police and security were put on full alert, and a manhunt ensued.

“We heard he was at the mother’s office, so we rushed there and arrested him.” Odendaal said they were relieved to discover that he did not have his firearm in his possession.

Police then found 130 graphically explicit photos of the stepfather with the victim. They also discovered a video showing the man engaging in oral sex with the victim.

“This was an open-and-shut case. As the evidence was so overwhelming, he could not deny anything.” Odendaal said the matter was postponed due to the victim impact reports not yet being ready.

Magistrate Vanessa Joubert postponed the matter for sentencing until July 26.