Western Cape paedophile sentenced to five years

Convicted paedophile Ian Appleton was jailed for five years by the Paarl Regional Court on Friday.

Anti-child abuse pressure groups packed into the court to hear the sentence being handed down to Appleton, a retired accountant and school master.

In terms of correctional supervision legislation, the sentence allows for his release into house arrest after serving ten months.

Among those in court were the parents of a boy, now aged 11, who was eight-years-old when Appleton, a long-standing friend of the family, raped him.

Appleton, 74, performed oral sex on the boy in 2008, and was convicted of rape under the new Children's Act.

Appleton appeared before magistrate Norma Smile who last year jailed him for five years without the option of correctional supervision.

However, in December last year a full bench of the Western Cape High Court ruled the sentence too severe after defence counsel Francois van Zyl contended that Appleton was a "very ill man" and needed treatment more than a prison sentence.

Instead of imposing a sentence that the High Court considered appropriate, the two judges who heard the appeal referred the matter back to the Paarl Regional Court for resentencing.

As Appleton was led from the courtroom down the stairs to the cells, people loudly applauded the magistrate and shouted to Appleton "bye bye" and "see you".