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Abused girl 'slept in cupboards'
17/07/2007 09:21 - (SA)
Tom de Wet
Welkom - A girl who was indecently assaulted between the ages of nine and 13 and repeatedly lured into doing indecent acts, often hid in cupboards during the night and slept there out of fear of the molester, a court heard.
Gys Bertus Snyman, 37, who came from Bothaville but is now living on a farm outside Allanridge, was sentenced in the sexual crime court to five years in prison, provisionally suspended for five years according to a plea bargain settlement with the State.
He was sentenced to 36 months correctional service during which he will have to undergo several treatment programmes.
He was also placed under house arrest for 36 months on the farm Taljaards Dam outside Allanridge. For 18 months he will also be under intensive house arrest.
He must also perform 16 hours of community service per month.
Teachers noticed something
The man's deeds came to light after one of the child's teachers contacted the police. They suspected she was being assaulted or abused because she was walking about in the heat wearing jackets and jerseys and displayed abnormal behaviour in public.
The mother was apparently unaware of the situation as she according to reports, regularly under the influence of alcohol.
According to the child's testimony the man at first offered her sweets or R20 "for her private parts".
During the following years he often lured her or indecently assaulted her to such an extent that she often hid in cupboards and slept there. She even ran away. Many of the incidents happened while the man was drunk.
Snyman later tried to force the girl to have sex with him by pretending that he had to do something to her "otherwise her husband will one day hurt her".
The child was too scared to tell her mother because she feared her mother would not believe her or that she would be scolded.
Charmaine Labuschagne, the prosecutor, in aggravation, pleaded that the child was subjected to sexual activities for which she was not ready, and that she had no support system.
The child's younger sister, who found out what was happening and became part of keeping the secret, still had to undergo therapy because she could not cope with the situation.
"What is particularly aggravating, is the long period of indecent influencing and the repeated efforts to get the complainant to have sex with him. At no stage did he try to stop it in order to bring relief to the child."
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