File
A man who was out on parole for just three months after serving time for rape and assault has been convicted of similar serious offences in the Western Cape High Court.
The National Prosecuting Authority said 55-year-old Jacobus Petoors pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of kidnapping, rape, and murder of 8-year-old Reagan Gertse in February 2020, in Tulbagh.
NPA spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said sentencing proceedings would start on Thursday, following pre-sentencing arguments.
Petoors was arrested in March last year after he was seen in the boy’s company prior to his disappearance, and the subsequent discovery of his body in bushes on 1 March.
The NPA said Petoors was convicted in July 2012, of rape and assault with intent to do serious bodily harm, crimes he committed the year before.
“He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and was released on parole only three months before he committed these crimes,” Ntabazalila said.
