Doctor convicted for rape, sexual assault gets reduced time

A MILITARY doctor who appealed against his conviction and sentence for rape and sexual assault at the Western Cape High Court was only partly successful when the court upheld the guilty verdict, but reduced his jail term.

Dr Denzil Clinton King, who was stationed at the Oudtshoorn military base, was accused of two counts of sexual assault and one count of rape relating to his examination of two SANDF recruits in 2016.

According to court documents, the complainants went to see King on different days, did not know each other and belonged to different platoons.

The first complainant was sexually assaulted on April 8 and 18 that year. On April 21, the second complainant was seeing King for an ear infection when he raped her.

During his trial at the Oudtshoorn Regional Court, King claimed the charges were false and had been brought against him in retaliation for not booking the complainants off sick.

In May 2018, King was convicted on the charges against him. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for rape and three years in jail for each of the sexual assault charges.

His sentences were overturned and the court sentenced him to six years for the rape and three years in jail for each of the sexual assault charges with the sentences to run concurrently.