Pastor jailed for raping girls

2009-10-06 20:06

Pietermaritzburg - A 50-year-old Verulam pastor who repeatedly raped his two daughters from the age of about five was jailed for 24 years by Judge Anton van Zyl in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.

A twin brother of one of the girls told the court he did not want to take his father's name, but preferred to assume his mother's maiden name because of his disgust with his father.

Although only nine-years-old when he testified he said his father often used to call one of the sisters to his bedroom and then rape her.

On one occasion he was in the kitchen and peeped into the living room where his father had a blanket over himself and a daughter who was crying: "It is painful. It is painful."

According to evidence, the father would rape the children while his wife was away at work.

A doctor who examined the girls found evidence of repeated sexual abuse.

Advocate Jan du Plessis, who appeared for the State, said in the many years of legal practice this was one of the worst cases of rape he had dealt with.

Du Plessis asked for a life sentence, but Van Zyl said at the age of 50 he was a first offender and when he worked he supported his family.

A life sentence would not be appropriate for one so old. He ordered the non-parole period be 16 years.

Judge Mohini Murugasen concurred with Van Zyl.
 

- SAPA