George man acquitted of rape, sexual assault in Mossel Bay Regional Court

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A 50-year-old man from George who was accused of the rape and sexual assault of a minor girl in 2023, was recently acquitted of the charges against him in the Mossel Bay Regional Court.

The trial was finalised on 9 October, resulting in his acquittal and release from police custody.

He was charged with the rape of one minor girl in the Great Brak River area in August 2023 and arrested in September that same year.

He was denied bail shortly after and has remained in custody ever since.

Mossel Bay Advertiser and George Herald previously reported that it is believed there are other victims in George who were sexually assaulted by the man between 2019 and 2021.

However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and a Southern Cape police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Chris Spies, confirmed that only one case was opened against him at the time and pursued in the Mossel Bay courts.

The case involved one victim, a 17-year-old girl, and her mother.

According to court documents obtained by Mossel Bay Advertiser from the NPA after his acquittal, the charges included three counts of rape as well as a count of sexual assault, all emanating from a single incident which occurred while the victim, who was 17 at the time, was in a vehicle with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend (the accused).

The defence argued that the victim and her mother premeditated the incident to ‘trap’ the former accused, and that the victim consented.

The court ruled that the testimonies of the victim and her mother raised serious questions and that there were too many contradictions for a reasonable court to convict.

“The court also raised serious concerns about the credibility of the state witnesses, especially the mother, as they seemed to tailor their evidence at times.”

The court further stated that the victim, in her statement to the girl collecting evidence, said her mother had told her to get the former accused’s DNA.