By Charmaine Ndlela
A Paarl Regional Court has sentenced a couple to 16 life terms and an additional 12 years’ direct imprisonment after convicting them of raping two minor girls, trafficking them and grooming them for sexual exploitation.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the 51-year-old man and his 42-year-old wife were convicted of eight counts of rape, eight counts of trafficking in persons and four counts of grooming children.
NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the couple targeted two vulnerable 14-year-old girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.
One victim had lost her mother, while her father struggled with alcohol abuse.
The second victim’s family had lost their home in a fire and was forced to seek shelter under a bridge.
The court handed down the sentence on Tuesday and ordered that the couple’s names be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders. Both were also declared unfit to possess
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