Cop faces three child rape
charges
May 15 2013 at 09:46am
By LALI VAN ZUYDAM
By LALI VAN ZUYDAM
Pretoria News
A
Pretoria police officer, accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, appears in the
dock minutes before dropping his bail application. He faces two similar
charges. Photo: Etienne Creux
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A Pretoria
police officer faces three charges of rape and kidnapping relating to three
incidents involving minors.
The 48-year-old
warrant officer from the Mamelodi East police station is in custody following
the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl.
The girl
alleged she was raped by the officer on April 28.
The officer,
after disappearing for a week, handed himself over at the Brooklyn police
station on May 5.
The teenager
said she was at home when the suspect, who is the sector manager at the
Mamelodi East police station, arrived to pick her up.
He had
allegedly been called out by the community police forum (CPF), after it had
received a call from the girl’s guardian.
Apparently the
guardian called the CPF because the girl did not complete her chores.
The girl
apparently did not co-operate with the CPF and the police were called.
The officer
arrived at the girl’s home in a police vehicle at 5pm to pick her up.
“He gave the
victim’s family the impression that she would be handed over to a female
officer,” said Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police
Investigative Directorate (Ipid), which is handling the case.
The officer
took the girl to a nearby KFC and bought her a meal before allegedly taking her
to his house for the night.
“He raped her
and dropped her off at home the next morning,” said Dlamini.
The girl did
not inform the authorities because the officer apparently threatened her.
At about the
same time the next day, the officer took the girl to his house and wanted to
rape her once again.
“She escaped
after asking to go to the toilet,” Dlamini said.
The victim
reported the incident to police officers, who picked her up next to the road
after her escape.
The Ipid said
the officer faced two charges of rape, one of an eight-year-old girl in 2008
and another of a 12-year-old girl in 2009.
In the 2009
incident, the girl fell pregnant. It was believed the officer was responsible
for the pregnancy.
The officer was
granted bail in both cases.
He continued to
work as an officer at the Mamelodi East police station.
Dlamini
confirmed the officer was employed by the SAPS at the time of the incident last
month.
He said Ipid
was “uncovering what happened”. The officer had not been suspended and it was
unclear what disciplinary processes the SAPS had followed.
The officer
appeared in the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to apply for bail, but
withdrew his application.
The Ipid
intends to combine the three charges and handle them as one case. The officer
remains in custody and is to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on May
28.
Provincial
police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel KatlegoMogale said she was not aware of
the case and could not say whether the officer had been suspended.
Pretoria News
