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Stutterheim – An Eastern Cape Farmer and a Stutterheim mother who gave her daughter to the farmer for sex have both been sentenced in the Stutterheim Regional Court on Thursday.
The 59-year-old farmer and the 25-year-old woman entered a plea bargain deal with the state on Wednesday relating to 28 charges, including sexual exploitation of a child and human trafficking for sexual purposes.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, Tsepo Ndwalaza, said neither may be named to protect the identity of the children concerned.
The charges relate to incidents dating back to June 2012, wherein the woman intentionally gave her daughter, then aged 11, to the farmer for sex in exchange for money. She also arranged for another girl, aged 15 at the time, to have sex with the man a year later, in September 2013.
Ndwalaza said the man had been found guilty on 19 charges, including two counts of rape, for which he was sentenced 15 years. He was also found guilty of seven counts of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes - which were taken as one for sentencing - which earned him a 12 year prison sentence. He was also found guilty of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, which were also taken as one for sentencing, and earned him an additional 10 year sentence.
Ndwalaza said the sentences would run concurrently, resulting in an effective prison term of 15 years for the farmer. The court also ordered that the farmer’s name be added to the sexual offenders register.
Ndwalaza said the woman was found guilty on seven counts of trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, which were taken as one for sentencing, earning her a 12 year prison sentence. She was also found guilty on seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child, which were also taken as one for sentencing, and sentenced to a further 10 years.
He said the court had ruled that the sentences would run concurrently, resulting in an effective prison term of 12 years. She was not added to the sexual offenders register.
