The Cape Town father accused of raping and killing his son’s eight-year-old friend during a sleepover at his house had absconded from a diversion programme he was placed in for a 2005 rape case.
This emerged during the 47-year-old man’s bail hearing in the Bluedowns magistrate’s court on Monday. He is accused of raping and killing Daniël Jamneck on June 15 in the rented home he shared with his son in Kraaifontein.
The man cannot be named until he has pleaded to the rape charge and to protect his 12-year-old son, who is the state’s main witness. The boy is in the care of social workers.
In 2005, the man was accused of rape but was not prosecuted after he was placed on a three-year diversion programme that dealt with sexual offences. Last Wednesday, when he initiated his bail application, the man told the court that the victim was an “adult”.
The Sunday Times reported that the court ordered the man to attend the programme, in consultation with the complainant, who was allegedly drugged at a house party.
Opposing the man’s release on bail, prosecutor Rudolph Olivier revealed that the man absconded from the programme after three months.
“The previous case is relevant,” said Olivier.
Olivier said the doctor who offered the programme said the man had “checked himself out” before completing it.
“The accused was offered an opportunity for rehabilitation (but he did not complete it),” he said.
Olivier said the prosecution had gathered a “substantial amount” of evidence through statements.
“All the people who came to the scene found the deceased in the bed of the accused,” he said.
“The state has a strong case, though it is circumstantial.”
Olivier said the case will be bolstered by DNA evidence. He said the post-mortem revealed bruises to the child’s private parts and adult pubic hair was also found on the child’s genitals.
The man declined to discuss the merits of the case. Olivier then poked holes in his motivation for his release on bail. He said the man’s landlady, on whose property the incident happened, no longer wanted him at her home.
The state is currently in possession of (a statement from) the owner of the property (which says that) she is no longer willing for the accused to rent her property.
— Prosecutor Rudolph Olivier
Olivier said the landlady had been threatened with death by “anonymous people”. He said the man’s employer, where he worked as a salesman, said “he no longer had a job”.
“The owner of the company will not allow the accused to come back to their premises,” he said.
The man told the court that he had an alternative address in Klapmuts that he would live at if released on bail. But Olivier said the investigating officer had spoken to the owner of the property who and had indicated that the man was “no longer welcome”. The mother of the man’s two minor children also said she “prefers that the accused remains in custody”.
“His main reason (for asking to be released on bail) is to continue with employment and work for his family, but is that exceptional?” asked Oliver.
“One of the children is being cared for by her mother and the other minor is in the care of social services. In the foreseeable future, the other minor will be in the care of social services. There is no indication that the minor children will starve. The accused did not show, to the court, any exceptional circumstances.”
The man was originally charged with murder, but the state added rape, sexual assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after the forensic pathologist found injuries on Daniël’s private parts.
“The injuries on the deceased can be described as barbaric,” Olivier said.
Olivier said the man’s son was “still traumatised” and the state was still obtaining information from him. He said the child had only given versions of what happened before Daniël’s death and afterwards.
Olivier asked the court not to give the man bail.
When the man entered the courtroom, he scanned the court gallery for familiar faces. But he fixed his gaze on the magistrate when Olivier told the court that the people close to him, including his landlady, mother of his children and employer, had renounced him.
The court found that there was a prima facie case against the man and that there were no exceptional circumstances that warranted his release on bail.
The matter was postponed to August 14 for further investigation.
A group of people, wearing T-shirts bearing Daniël’s face, called for justice.
A family spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I came to check if the evidence links him (the suspect) to the case. But we still have to wait for the DNA evidence.”
Activist Candice van der Rheeder, founder of the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit, said the justice system had failed Daniël.
“The court system is designed to protect criminals these days,” she said.
“Why is the sexual offences register not made public for the communities? At least make it accessible to community structure like the community policing forums. I feel that our people are misled because they don’t know who is among our children.
“This child would be alive if this man was not put on that diversion course. If it was properly monitored, they could have picked it up that he only attended for three months when it was for supposed to be three years. No follow-up was done. The justice system failed this child. This child would still be alive today.”
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