The Swellendam Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced a man to 20 years imprisonment for the 2021 rape of his friend’s mother.
The offender, Jerry Damons, was found guilty of rape, and the court ordered his name to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
On February 24, 2021, Damons lured the 55-year-old woman into a bush area under the pretence that her child was there.
The woman, who knew and trusted Damons as her friend's son and a friend of her own son, followed him.
Once in the bushes, Damons attacked her, threw her to the ground, inflicted severe injuries, and then raped her.
He fled the scene, leaving the woman to report the incident to the Barrydale police, still covered in blood from her head wounds. Damons was arrested the following day.
State Prosecutor Elton Willemse argued in court for a life sentence, highlighting society's expectations for severe punishment for gender-based violence perpetrators.
"The attack was vicious and dangerous...the complainant was highly traumatised due to this incident," said Willemse.
During the trial, Damons confessed to the crime.
"The magistrate found substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence due to the accused’s admission of guilt to the crime," explained Eric Ntabazalila, the Western Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The Western Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, praised the prosecution and investigation team for securing the conviction and substantial sentence.
She added, "We will continue to vigorously prosecute the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide as it encroaches on the right to dignity."
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL