Rapist mom

Using molestation as excuse

THE woman found guilty of raping her son was using her own past experience of molestation as an excuse.

This was the view of state prosecutor Louis York in his closing arguments in the sentencing proceedings of the 51year-old woman who, for at least the last five years, had been raping her own son, who is now 17 years old.

The woman pleaded guilty to rape in the Bloemfontein Magistrate ’ s Court on Monday. On Tuesday, pastor Jan Lubbe, at whose church the woman was a deacon, revealed that as a young woman she was molested by her grandfather and two family members for a period of three years. York, however, said the woman should have known better than to subject her son to the same trauma.

“She knew what she was doing. What happened to her should not have happened to her son, and she is using that as an excuse,” York said.

Because of the trauma that her son went through, York argued, the boy never had a normal childhood.

The woman’s lawyer, Themba Diba, earlier appealed to magistrate Jan Greyvenstein not to hand the accused a lengthy sentence because “the Bible teaches us to forgive those who trespass against us”.

Said Diba: “She can’t be sacrificed at the altar of deterrence. Indeed, a message should be sent out that this type of crime will not be tolerated ... but in her appearance in court, she was always very emotional and wanted the case to be speedily finalised. That is the characteristic of a person who admits guilt and is remorseful.”

The boy’s father, who is the woman ’ s husband, told Sowetan previously that his son was very angry.

“He is angry and I think what the pastor suggested [therapy] will help him. He missed out on a lot of schooling this year but he is busy writing his examinations. He is in Grade 10,” he said.