Cape Town – The Worcester Regional Court has handed down hefty sentences to three men for their hate crime against a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Peter-John Adams, 19, Rodney Beukes, 20, and Austin Fritz, 17, were convicted of rape and kidnapping.
According to provincial police spokesperson Ndakhe Gwala, on August 26, 2017, the then 23-year-old victim was sitting around a fire with two friends, listening to music when the trio jumped the fence, grabbed him and dragged him to a separate location.
The victim was taken to a new building in Bella Vista in Ceres.
“They assaulted the victim and took turns raping him. He was held in the building for hours. At around 2.30am, he managed to escape and sought help,” Gwala said.
Four days later police arrested the three who were found to be members of the Ford Boys gang.
They were detained and charged for rape and kidnapping.
Adams was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for rape and kidnapping and the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
Beukes was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for rape and kidnapping and was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Fritz, the youngest of the group, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in terms of Section 77 of the Child Justice Act.
The court declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
“SAPS management in the Western Cape applauds Detective Sergeant Anthony John Van Rooy of the Ceres Family Violence Child Protection Sexual offences Unit for his exceptional investigative skills in this case.
“SAPS strongly condemns homophobic attacks and any perpetrator of such crimes will face the full might of the law. We hope this harsh sentence sends a strong message that such gruesome acts will not be tolerated in our communities,” Gwala said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL