Update
GEORGE NEWS - The 42-year-old rape suspect who was arrested on Sunday 25 May after having allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl, will in all likelihood make his first court appearance in George tomorrow, Tuesday 27 May.
This follows a massive community-led search effort that resulted in the girl being found and the suspect being arrested on charges of kidnapping and rape.
According to the George CPF’s Timothy Luff, the alarm was first raised at 19:35 during a stockcar race, when an ambulance crew reported a suspected rape incident near the George showgrounds.
“A co-ordinated response was quickly launched, involving members of the Community In Blue [CIB], Tussen Twee Riviere Farm Watch, George South Neighbourhood Watch, Blanco Neighbourhood Watch, CPA Security and local SAPS units,” he said.
Luff said when they arrived on the scene, the suspect and the victim were missing, but an eyewitness, another young girl, was still there. She led the authorities to the initial crime scene, the bridge near the cemetery on York Street, which led to a night-long search.
"More than 30 volunteers joined the grid search led by the SAPS, but by midnight, no trace of the suspect or victim had been found.”
It was later determined that the victim and another young girl, both from Conville, had been approached by a man near the York Street bridge earlier that day.
He convinced them to follow him under false pretences, eventually leading them to an open field near the R102 to the airport, where the 10-year-old was allegedly raped. The second girl managed to escape and alerted her family.
“Even after initial search operations were called off at about 02:00, the efforts to locate the suspect intensified,” says Luff.
“I checked a known location called the ‘White House’, while Ronald Swart, chairman of the George South Neighbourhood Watch, acted on a tip-off in Syferfontein. By morning, the search resumed in full force. At 08:17, we received fresh information from an informant, and with the assistance of the SAPS, the suspect was located and arrested in Syferfontein.”
The suspect told them where the victim was, and at about 09:00, the girl was found in a parked caravan behind the George showgrounds.
Acknowledgements
Luff thanked the SAPS, George South Neighbourhood Watch, Tussen Twee Riviere Farm Watch, the CPF and CIB members for their invaluable assistance throughout this operation.
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