A NORTHERN Cape man, Pieter Arendse, 28, has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old.
The incident happened on September 1, 2017, when the 13-year-old female victim was on her way to her grandparents’ house in Valspan in Jan Kempdorp with her friend.
“While on their way, they were accosted by the accused. The victim’s friend was able to escape,” police spokesperson Colonel Mashay Gamieldien said.
“The accused grabbed the victim, threatened her with violence and dragged her into the veld where she was raped. He was arrested the next day and appeared in the Hartswater Magistrate’s Court.”
The investigating officer, Sergeant Zacharia Salokal, successfully opposed bail and the accused was remanded in custody until his conviction on July 17, 2020 in the Hartswater Regional Court.
He was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and his name will be recorded in the National Register for Sex Offenders.
The provincial head of the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit in the Northern Cape, Brigadier Nicky Mills, welcomed the sentence.
