Africa-Press – South-Africa. Fatherhood is a calling, and he abused that position of power.”
These were the words of the prosecutor, Jeffery Nethononda, after the high court sitting in Benoni on Friday sentenced a father of three children to two life terms.
He received an additional 83 years for the remaining charges.
The 41-year-old man, whose identity was withheld to protect the identity of the children, was arrested in February last year after one of the children confided in a family relative about the ordeal.
The incident was reported to the police.
Known only as “Mr X”, he pleaded guilty to all 426 charges against him, which included:
During the trial, the court heard that Mr X committed these offences against his two stepsons and daughter between 2012 and 2021.
The offences took place in their home when the mother of the children was at work and the children were left in his care.
He would ask the minor boys to take pictures of their sister’s private parts and send it to him for his pleasure.
Nethononda said Mr X had no regard for children’s rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
“Fatherhood is a calling, and Mr X abused that position of power. The degradation of children through child pornography is serious harm, which impairs their dignity and devalues their worth. The children will be traumatised for life because of what he put them through.
“Therefore, there were no compelling circumstances advanced by Mr X to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence,” said Nethononda.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the sentence.
The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
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