Paedophile farmer kills himself
2006-01-31 12:25
Johannesburg - An elderly Namibian farmer has committed suicide after being convicted of child-sex crimes, The Namibian reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper's website said Abraham Roux, 71, shot himself while in the veld with a .308 rifle on his farm Vierpanne in the Gobabis district at the weekend.
High Court Judge Kato van Niekerk was told on Monday that the man she convicted on Friday had taken his own life.
She found that he had had numerous sexual liaisons with young homeless boys at Gobabis between 2000 and early April 2004.
Roux's explanation was that the boys pestered him for money during his monthly or bi-monthly visits to Gobabis, offering sex in return.
"Although I protested at first, I succumbed to the proposal because I suffered from sexual urges," Roux told the court in a statement.
"After this first incident, I was held at ransom by the complainants who threatened to go to the authorities."
As Roux left the High Court on Friday, he was asked how he was doing.
"Dinge lyk maar donker," ("Things are looking rather dark.") he replied in Afrikaans.
- SAPA