Court upholds life sentence for repeat offender in child rape case

A Northern Cape man will remain in prison after the High Court in Kimberley rejected his appeal to overturn his conviction and life sentence for the rape of his 11-year-old family member.

Stefaans Dickson, a repeat offender with previous convictions for both rape and murder, was sentenced for this heinous crime, which occurred on January 12, 2019, in Platfontein.

Appealing against the findings of the court, Dickson argued that the oral evidence and written statements by the minor victim and the victim’s grandmother, who caught him in the act, were not credible. 

He submitted that the trial court erred in its finding and that the “sentence of life imprisonment is shockingly inappropriate” despite being linked to the crime through DNA evidence found on the boy’s underwear.

It emerged during court proceedings that Dickson had forcibly penetrated the young boy after luring him into his home. 

“GK (the victim) testified that he was 11 years old at the time of the incident and that he knew the appellant as he is a family member. According to his evidence, the appellant sent him to collect a lighter from his grandmother on the evening of January 12, 2019, which he took to the appellant’s residence. 

The boy’s grandmother arrived at Dickson’s home, having heard the cries of her grandchild.

The court heard that GK was crying, and his grandmother arrived with her torch, and Dickson ran outside.

“GK put his underpants and trousers back on. His uncle called the police, and they took him to the hospital, where he was given medication and was examined by a doctor.”

Dickson made a bare denial of all evidence brought against him and pleaded not guilty. It was his version that he was not at the house at the time of the incident and insisted that he was at his uncle’s house with his mother and siblings.

Submitting reasons for why the DNA found on the boy’s underwear was his, Dickson said he had sexual intercourse with his girlfriend, whereafter he wiped his genitals with a cloth that he then discarded on the floor.

It was his version that the cloth he used to wipe himself was GK’s underwear.

High Court judge, Almè Stanton, said: “The trial court was satisfied that GK relayed his evidence in a chronological manner. It found that, despite the long silences and repeated questions when he testified, GK’s evidence remained consistent, he was capable of proper observation, and he recollected the material events correctly.

“The record reflects that GK provided a detailed account of how he was positioned on the bed, raped, and strangled by the appellant.

The judge said the finding of the trial court that the guilt of the appellant was proven beyond a reasonable doubt cannot be faulted.