Pretoria - The man who last week asked the court to have mercy on him after he was convicted on 15 counts relating to rape and other sexual activities involving some of his 14 children, was on Friday sentenced to four life imprisonment terms.
The 44-year-old man’s hopes to be wedded to yet another wife is also dashed, as the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in addition to the four life terms, added another 73 years behind bars.
Jude Papi Mosopa said the man, who cannot be identified to safeguard the identity of his victims, was a liar and a danger to the physical and mental well-being of his victims and to the community as a whole.
Some of his children whom he had raped, was in court and were visibly shocked and emotional, as the man told the court he was a bad father, but planned on making amends to his children.
He raped and committed sexual deeds with some of his children and stepchildren – aged between 9 and 14 years. He even made one of his child girlfriends, who was 13 when she moved in with him, pregnant by the time she was 15.
She bore three of his children by the time he was arrested in 2020.
After first denying the charges against him, he had a change of heart last week and confessed to everything. This was after the State had called a doctor who had testified that the children she had examined all showed signs relating to sexual activities.
He was convicted on 15 charges, ranging from rape, statutory rape, the sexual grooming of children and using a child to produce child pornography.
While two of the victims were his own biological children, some were his stepchildren or the children of women who lived with him over the years.
One of the charges – statutory rape – relates to a 13-year-old, said to be his girlfriend and who lived with him from 2017 (when she was 13) until shortly before his arrest in November 2020. She became pregnant with his child and gave birth when she was 15.
The man was arrested after he was caught raping one of his daughters.
He at first pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The State called its first witness, a doctor who had examined some of the children following his arrest. According to the doctor, most victims presented with markings to their private parts, indicative of sexual activity. Soon after the conclusion of the evidence of the first witness, the dad decided to admit to everything.
Reading from a piece of paper, the father first apologised to the court for wasting its time in not pleading guilty from the start. He then profusely apologised to his children. “I know I was not a good father. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I know if I get professional help, I’ld be a better person in time.”
He said he had “found God” and had since his arrest read the Bible five times.
Pretoria News