THE Orkney Magistrates Court gallery was fully packed by community members on Monday, 26 June.
It was supposed to be the court appearance of pastor and Matlosana Local municipality ward councillor, Tebogo Sepale (43), but he wasn't in the dock.
Sepale is facing 11 provisional charges - two for statutory rape, three for the violation of a child with consent, one for manufacturing pornographic material, four for rape, and one for sexual intimidation.
Prosecutor Advocate Riekie Krause said the suspect was not brought to court by the police from Potchefstroom Correctional Centre.
The suspect's lawyer, Attorney Kobus Burger, told the court that he has no idea why his client was not brought forward. The court then deferred the matter to next Friday, 7 July, for possible formal bail application and further investigation.
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His court appearance emanates from a report by the police indicating that the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit was investigating a case of crimen injuria and two separate counts of statutory rape, after they were reported at Kanana cop shop near Orkney, respectively.
The court said in one of the cases, the suspect allegedly shared a nude picture of his private parts with the complainant and in the second and separate case, but involving the same suspect, two counts of statutory rape were laid earlier on by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17.
Investigations are still underway to gather more evidence against the suspect.
The cops are urging the public to refrain from circulating sexual content of any form through all mediums because it may compromise the victims and their families, as well as the investigations into the matter.
