Zephany Nurse's kidnapper Lavona Solomon to be released on parole

17 July 2023 - 12:02 By Kim Swartz
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Lavona Solomon, in the only photograph of her on her Facebook account.
Lavona Solomon, in the only photograph of her on her Facebook account.
Image: Facebook/Lavona Solomon

Lavona Solomon, the kidnapper of Zephany Nurse, will be released on parole on August 18, the department of correctional services confirmed on Monday.

Solomon has already been placed in a pre-release programme.

Solomon was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for kidnapping baby Zephany in 1997 from Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. Zephany was just three days old at the time. Solomon raised her as her own child.  

The crime was uncovered only in 2016 after a DNA test, which led to Solomon’s arrest and imprisonment that year.

Correctional services department spokesperson Candice van Reenen said Solomon, upon her release, would be “admitted into the system of community corrections and serve the remainder of the sentence until its expiry in 2026.

“Generally the decisions of the parole board are influenced by a number of factors, including the offender’s response to development and treatment programmes associated with rehabilitation, the existence of support systems in the community, the probability of re-offending and the risk the offender may pose to the community or the complainant/victims.”

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