THE Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni Magistrates Court, sentenced Pastor Lucky Mfanivele Magagula (36), to two life terms for rape, exposing children to pornography, sexual assault, exposing his genitals to children and sexually grooming six minor children, aged three, four, six, eight and nine years old.
NPA spokeswoman Lumka Mahanjana said the judge ordered that his name be added to the national register for sexual offenders and that he be declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“Judge Jay Monyemangeni, found him guilty of three counts of rape, five counts of exposing children to pornography, six counts of sexual assault, and four counts of exposing genitals to children and sexual grooming on 5 August.
Magagula is a pastor at a church in Barcelona.
One of his victims had arrived at his house to play with his relative, said Mahanjana, adding that he confessed to raping the child during a family meeting.
Mahanjana said the pastor raped the eight and the nine-year-old minors, and further sexually assaulted, and sexually groomed them together with 3 others between 2020 and 2021 when they would go to his house for choir practice and bible study.
The NPA said that it was reported to police after two girls undressed while playing, imitating what he had done to them. One girl told a relative that was what the pastor was doing to them.
“The grandmother told the parents of the children, who then apprehended Magagula and took him to the police station. He was then arrested on 11 February 2021 and has been in custody since, after the state successfully opposed bail. In court, he pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.”
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In aggravation of sentence, Advocate Juliet Makgwatha told the court that Magagula was a pastor in the community, and the children trusted him. He was in a position of trust; he opened the church to help the community, instead, he betrayed that trust and violated children in the most gruesome manner. She, therefore, asked the court to impose a sentence that will send a strong message.
In delivering his sentence Judge Monyemangeni agreed with the state and said: “The children were robbed of their childhood, Magagula exposed them to something that will affect them for the rest of their lives”.
