Judgment expected in horrific child rape trial

Judgment in the case of six family members accused of a string of child abuse and rape charges is expected in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday - hopefully bringing to an end a seven-year ordeal for the six victims.

The family members are facing 53 charges of rape‚ indecent assault‚ sexual grooming of children‚ and the possession‚ manufacturing and distribution of child pornography. The case began in December 2010 when a grandfather‚ his wife‚ brother‚ sister in law‚ nephew‚ his two adult children and their spouses were arrested in relation to the accusations.

It was revealed that the abuse of the six young children - the youngest who was just four-years-old when he was sexually violated - started in 2005‚ and carried on for five years. Of the nine accused‚ two have been found not guilty and a third was sentenced in 2015 to nine years in prison for the rape of his then nine-year-old sibling.

The Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) said it was hoping the suspects would be convicted‚ with the case having been running for more than seven years.

“We are demanding the harshest sentence possible for the crimes they have committed. In the meantime‚ a broken young girl is finding it very hard to cope with life‚ and will need therapy and special care for the rest of her life‚” said Tania Otto on behalf of WMACA.

WMACA said it provided free therapeutic and other services to the two minor victims who‚ at the time‚ were placed in foster care with the grandfather and his wife.

“Our team still remain shocked at the fact that the accused so blatantly abused their own four grandchildren as well as two very young children for whom their house was meant to be a safe haven after experiencing the trauma of entering the foster system‚” said Otto.