Windhoek High Court Judge Naomi Shivute yesterday sentenced convicted child rapist, Jeremia van Wyk, to an effective 24 years imprisonment.
She convicted Van Wyk (53) of rape by way of penile penetration of a five-year-old girl last month.
Van Wyk denied that he raped his victim with his male genitalia and insisted he only used his finger to penetrate the girl.
According to the judge, she was required to take the personal circumstances and the circumstances in which the offences were committed as well as the interest of society in consideration when she determined a sentence. “I have considered that the accused committed serious offences against a vulnerable child,” she said and continued: “Although the accused pleaded guilty to the charges, he took the risk of playing an elaborate hoax on this court by admitting that he had sexual intercourse with the minor child by inserting his finger into her private part instead of admitting that the offence was committed by means of penal insertion.”
She further said the fact that foreign bodies were found on the child’s genitalia did not even deter him from telling a lie that he only used his finger.
“The accused’s misplaced effort to mislead the court was an exercise in futility as DNA evidence does not lie,” the judge stressed.
She went on to say that his guilty plea was not because he was remorseful, but because he had no other option as the evidence against him was damning. She said that no weight should be attached to his guilty plea and that he committed premeditated offences.
“He planned to take the victim from school in order to sexually abuse her and executed his plans. The victim suffered unbearable pain and was left traumatised. There can be no doubt that the accused has destroyed the life of the innocent child,” the judge stated. According to her, his more than 20 previous convictions, which stems from the 1980s, show that he has no respect for the law and is a danger to society.
Looking at his personal circumstances, the judge said, the factors in his favour are his age and that he has spent more than two years in trial-awaiting custody. Undoubtedly, she said, Van Wyk committed extremely serious offences, which are becoming prevalent in society.
“A clear message must also be sent out to all would-be offenders that this court will not shrink in its responsibility to protect women, children and other vulnerable people against those who commit offences such as these,” the judge said before she sentence Van Wyk to 20 years on the rape conviction and seven years on the abduction conviction and ordered that three years must run concurrently leaving him with 24 years.
Van Wyk pleaded guilty to rape and abduction at the start of his trial, but as he denied that he penetrated her with his male genitalia as he apparently “could not get it up” the State refused to accept his guilty plea and proceeded to prove that he raped her by using his male genitalia.
The State was represented by Felicitas Sikerete-Vendura and Van Wyk by Joseph Andreas on instructions of legal aid.