A Free Staterapistwho prepared food for his victims, aged 13 and 14, and let them eat before stuffing socks in their mouths and raping them has been handed two life sentences. The Welkom regional court found Charles Matthias Titus, 44, guilty on multiple charges after the rape of two minor victims whom he had lured away from his friends. According to Free State police spokesperson Sgt Palesa Thabana, the two girls were watching a netball match in an open field at Dubai squatter camp in Bronville on August 24 2019 when Titus lured them away.
Thabana said Titus asked that they go and buy something for him at a local tuckshop. “On their return from the tuckshop, they went to the accused’s shack, where he prepared food for them to eat. While at the shack after they ate, he locked the door, took a knife from the drawer and threatened the victims.
The case was assigned to Sgt Themba Jilimba of the Thabong family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit (FCS). Through his extensive investigation he ensured that the accused was denied bail until the commencement of his trial, “He tied them up with shoelaces and put socks in their mouths before taking turns and repeatedly raping them as the other watched,” said Thabana. After the rapes, the victims reported the incident to their elders and a case of rape was registered for further investigation.
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“The accused was subsequently arrested for rape. Through his extensive investigation he ensured that the accused was denied bail until the commencement of his trial.” After a trial that lasted several years, he was found guilty and on Monday sentenced to two life sentences for rape — and a further 10 years’ imprisonment for compelling or causing children to witness a sexual offence or act. The sentences will run concurrently with the first life sentence.
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