Durban: A 39-year-old woman's name has been added to the National Register of Sexual Offenders after she was convicted of multiple sexual offences and the rape of her 5-year-old daughter.
During court proceedings, the woman pleaded guilty to the charges and told the court she craved her boyfriend’s attention and wanted his approval since she was always taking care of her older daughter, 15, who lives with a disability.
The woman's boyfriend has also been charged.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the woman from Pretoria North, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her daughter, was handed four life terms and 30 years’ imprisonment for four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and exposure to genitals, and three counts of creation of pornography.
NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the woman and her boyfriend raped the girl, using objects, between December 2021 and March 2022.
She was arrested in March after she sent a video clip of the girl to a friend on WhatsApp. The friend reported her to the police.
"They sexually assaulted her and made the child perform sexual acts on her and her boyfriend. When the boyfriend was at his own place, the mother would take pictures of the child’s private parts, and videos of her performing sexual acts on the child and send it to her boyfriend for his pleasure," Mahanjana said.
She said the woman, through her legal representative, asked the court to deviate from the prescribed sentence and asked for a sentence of 20 years.
"However, prosecutor Hanlie du Preez asked the court to impose the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment because the mother was in a position of trust. She was supposed to love and protect the child; instead, she took advantage of that trust. She told the court that in most cases rapists are not devils with horns, but people who live among us. The mother sacrificed her child for a relationship," Mahanjana said.
The magistrate agreed with the State and said a long term of direct imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence option that would reflect the seriousness of the offence.
The NPA said the matter against the boyfriend was set down for next year and he would appear in court in February for a possible plea.
IOL