FOR MORE than a year, the evil dad (36) raped, sexually groomed and exposed his 11-year-old daughter to porn.
It wasn't until the child broke her silence to her dad's fiancée that his reign of terror came to an end.
The Pretoria North Magistrates Court sentenced the man to 39 years of direct imprisonment for the sexual offence committed to his daughter, who at the time was only 10 years old.
He was charged with five counts of rape, five counts of sexual offences, two counts of sexual grooming and exposure of pornography to a minor.
According to the Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority's Lumka Mahanjana, the man's sickening sins were committed between 2020 and 2021.
Mahanjana said the child had been staying with him at the time.
"When the child was 11 years old, she told the fathers fiancee what had been happening to her. The fiancee then reported the matter to the police. The father was arrested and kept in custody since then," she said.
Before pleading guilty to the charges levelled against him, the man alluded that he was not mentally stable.
She said this revelation resulted in the man being sent to a mental observation at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, where it was found that he showed signs of pedophiliac disorder.
ALSO READ | 'Rapist’ gobela: Bittersweet day for victim!
Despite these diagnoses, Mahanjana said it was concluded that he was fit enough to stand trial.
In court, state prosecutor Hanlie Du Preez asked the court to impose a sentence of life given the "gruesome" acts committed by the man.
"The father committed gruesome offences against his child, whom he was supposed to protect; furthermore, the father showed no remorse because he stopped committing the offences not because he was remorseful but because he was caught," she said.
The magistrate agreed and found no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
As a result, a hefty sentence of 39 years imprisonment and his name were added to the register for sexual offenders, and he was further found unfit to work with kids.
As the world observes 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the fight against violence doesn't only end in homes but in communities, churches, workplaces and in the education system.
At the same time, President Cyril Ramaphosa argued that while men are the main perpetrators of violence against women and girls, it's time they become less of the problem and more of the solution as they stand at the forefront against gender-based violence.
