The State has argued that Nicholas Ninow, who has pleaded guilty to raping a seven-year-old girl at a restaurant in September last year, had intended to have sex on the day of the incident.
State Prosecutor Dora Ngobeni made her submissions during closing arguments in the case against Ninow at the North Gauteng High court on Thursday.
She submitted that Ninow's version of events should be rejected.
According to Ninow, 21, he grabbed the girl after she walked in on him as he was hiding in the female bathroom using drugs.
The incident happened at the Dros restaurant in Pretoria, Silverton.
Ngobeni dismissed Ninow's version of events saying it did not make sense that Ninow wanted to hide in the female bathroom from the manager to use drugs when he had offered the manager drugs earlier.
"That version does not hold water," she said.
Ngobeni said Ninow had told a witness that he was willing to have sex with a female patron, who passed them in the restaurant.
"He had an intention to have sex, be it with a child or anybody because he had made utterances before meeting the child."
Ngobeni further argued that because Ninow had indicated that he wanted to have sex, he moved to the play area to look for a victim. "That is the only reasonable inference that can be drawn."
"He planned this whole incident, he preys on a child who is powerless, vulnerable to an extent that when the mother called out the child's name, she could not respond because the accused threatened her."
Ngobeni said Ninow didn't act on impulse as he wanted the court to believe, hence they called the victim to testify.
She said the victim clearly stated she was in the bathroom urinating when the accused came into the bathroom.
"His version regarding the sequence of events should be rejected. The court should find that the accused saw her and followed her, threatened her and then raped her" she argued.
Ninow's legal representative, Herman Alberts said there was no evidence that Ninow preyed on the child.
"You cannot draw the inference because a person was sitting at a table they are preying on children," Alberts argued.
He further argued that Ninow's sexual comments which he made earlier, didn't indicate that he wanted to rape someone.
Alberts said the court should accept Ninow's version that he acted impulsively, saying the powder that was found in the cubicle fit with his version that he was doing drugs in the toilet.
The matter was postponed to September 16 for Judgement.
- African News Agency (ANA)
