Africa-Press – South-Africa. In a month’s time, the woman who made headlines when she was jailed for kidnapping Zephany Nurse and raising her as her own – will be released on parole and placed under correctional supervision for three years.
This after the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board finally decided on Friday to release Lavona Solomon on parole.
According to correctional services department spokesperson Candice van Reenen, she will be released on 18 August.
She will undergo pre-release programmes until the date of her release.
“Thereafter, Solomon will be admitted into the system of Community Corrections and serve the remainder of the sentence until its expiry in 2026,” Van Reenen added.
In July last year, the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board decided that Solomon needed to undergo further assessments as well as a victim-offender dialogue process for the purposes of restorative justice before she could be released.
Her profile was submitted again earlier this month, and culminated in the decision to release her.
According to Van Reenen, the decision was influenced by a number of factors, including the offender’s response to development and treatment programmes associated with rehabilitation, the existence of support systems in the community, the probability of reoffending, and the risk the offender may pose to the community or the complainant/victims.
Solomon was sentenced in the Western Cape High Court in August 2016 to 10 years in prison for kidnapping Zephany when she was just three days old in April 1997. Zephany was snatched from Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town shortly after her mother, Celeste Nurse, gave birth to her. Solomon named her Miché.
She was reunited with her biological family through an incredible coincidence that involved her biological sister, Cassidy Nurse.
She and Cassidy ended up at the same high school and their resemblance sparked talk among their peers.
Eventually, it was established that she was indeed Zephany Nurse.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
