FRANCISTOWN: A Serowe man convicted of raping his niece using violence was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday (Tuesday).
The paedophile whose identity cannot be revealed to protect the victim repeatedly raped his niece who was left in his care. When passing the sentence, Justice Tshegofatso Mogomotsi said that the paedophile threatened to stab the victim’s mother with a knife which forced her to flee.
After the victim’s mother escaped, the convict raped the minor several times without using protection. “When passing sentence, I shall take into account the seriousness of the offence, the age of the complainant who was a minor. The offence that the accused committed has left negative psychological effects on the minor. The accused was not a stranger to the victim but he was a very close relative of hers and they used to stay together at the cattle post. The victim trusted the accused but the accused broke that trust,” said Mogomotsi.
The accused, Mogomotsi noted, was in prison for two similar offences. “I will, however, not factor those offences when passing sentences in the current matter because the prosecution (police) did not bring the accused’s previous convictions. He shall therefore be treated as a first offender. The sentence passed by this court shall show society’s revulsion of these kinds of offences. A moderate sentence will serve justice in this matter. The accused is therefore sentenced to 15 years in jail. This sentence shall run concurrently with any other sentence that the accused is already serving. When a man rapes a child, he should visualise another man raping his daughter and how he would feel,” said Mogomotsi.
