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The National Prosecuting Authority said a 40-year-old man from Plettenberg Bay has been sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment for the attempted rape of his nephew and godson.
NPA spokesperson in the Western Cape, Eric Ntabazalila, said the court ordered on Friday that his name be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
“The State does not name the accused as he is related to the victim, wants to avoid indirectly naming the victim and possibly expose him to secondary victimisation,” he said.
Ntabazalila said that the man from Kranshoek was with the 10-year-old boy in his sister’s house, on 28 September 2022, when he attempted to commit a sexual act on the boy.
He said the man fled after the victim’s mother arrived and he was arrested later.
Ntabazalila said he entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state, admitting that he had smoked ‘tik’ on the day and the he knew that his “actions were unlawful and that he could be convicted and punished for conducting himself in such a manner.”
He also noted that the accused was a repeat offender, having already been convicted previously of two sexual offences and had served a “long-term” of imprisonment.
The Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence but lamented that “the rate at which children were becoming victims of crime, sadly, at the hands of those who are supposed to love and protect them.”
