9 years for child killer

THE broken and bruised body of a toddler was found to be the result of repeated child abuse by Benny Krohne, who was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in the Swakopmund Regional Court last week.

The post-mortem report indicated that three-year-old Renaldo Daan’s body showed clear signs of continuous abuse. Bruises were found all over his face, chest, back, neck and legs.His death finally came by way of two fractured vertebrae and subsequent haemorrhage.Krohne was arrested on a charge of murder and two charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, shortly after little Renaldo was found dead in his home in Mondesa, Swakopmund, on May 18 2003.Magistrate Gert Retief found Krohne guilty of culpable homicide, for which he will serve seven years in jail.He was sentenced to an additional one year’s imprisonment on each of the two assault charges.At the time, Krohne was engaged to the boy’s mother, Lena Daan, who was also a victim of violence at the hands of her fiancée.The second charge of assault on which Krohne was convicted was in connection with an attack on Lena Daan during which he slapped her in the face several times and poured hot coffee over her.She had withdrawn a previous charge of assault.Her son, Renaldo Daan, had also been treated in the Swakopmund State Hospital about nine months before his death, when he arrived with scratch marks, bruises and abrasions on his body and a swollen forehead.According to the medical report, the injuries could have been caused by a fall, but abuse could not be ruled out.Krohne pleaded not guilty to all charges when he first appeared in court shortly after the crime.”I didn’t hurt the child,” he said.”He was throwing up early in the morning and I warned his mother to take the child to hospital.”A seven-year-old girl was the only eyewitness to testify during the trial.She said she had seen how Krohne had flung the little boy into the air that morning while his mother was at work.Later, when she went to call Renaldo for lunch, he didn’t wake up where he was lying on a mattress in the house he was sharing with his mother and soon-to-be stepfather.A woman who was called to the house immediately sent for the boy’s mother, who found his cold, stiff body.With the corpse of her son in her arms, Lena Daan then ran to the Police station.Arguing for a less severe punishment, defence counsel Duard Kesslau argued that Krohne is the father of other children whom he has to support and he is keen to work for the betterment of their lives.Magistrate Retief was not swayed by this, however.He said Krohne had lied many times during the trial, giving a different version of events at every court appearance.He said that Krohne had left the boy to die and did not make any attempt to help him.With a long list of previous convictions for assault, housebreaking and theft, Krohne is a menace that society needs protection from, the Magistrate said.Tania Tait was the State prosecutor.Bruises were found all over his face, chest, back, neck and legs.His death finally came by way of two fractured vertebrae and subsequent haemorrhage.Krohne was arrested on a charge of murder and two charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, shortly after little Renaldo was found dead in his home in Mondesa, Swakopmund, on May 18 2003.Magistrate Gert Retief found Krohne guilty of culpable homicide, for which he will serve seven years in jail.He was sentenced to an additional one year’s imprisonment on each of the two assault charges.At the time, Krohne was engaged to the boy’s mother, Lena Daan, who was also a victim of violence at the hands of her fiancée. The second charge of assault on which Krohne was convicted was in connection with an attack on Lena Daan during which he slapped her in the face several times and poured hot coffee over her.She had withdrawn a previous charge of assault.Her son, Renaldo Daan, had also been treated in the Swakopmund State Hospital about nine months before his death, when he arrived with scratch marks, bruises and abrasions on his body and a swollen forehead.According to the medical report, the injuries could have been caused by a fall, but abuse could not be ruled out.Krohne pleaded not guilty to all charges when he first appeared in court shortly after the crime.”I didn’t hurt the child,” he said.”He was throwing up early in the morning and I warned his mother to take the child to hospital.”A seven-year-old girl was the only eyewitness to testify during the trial.She said she had seen how Krohne had flung the little boy into the air that morning while his mother was at work.Later, when she went to call Renaldo for lunch, he didn’t wake up where he was lying on a mattress in the house he was sharing with his mother and soon-to-be stepfather.A woman who was called to the house immediately sent for the boy’s mother, who found his cold, stiff body.With the corpse of her son in her arms, Lena Daan then ran to the Police station.Arguing for a less severe punishment, defence counsel Duard Kesslau argued that Krohne is the father of other children whom he has to support and he is keen to work for the betterment of their lives.Magistrate Retief was not swayed by this, however.He said Krohne had lied many times during the trial, giving a different version of events at every court appearance.He said that Krohne had left the boy to die and did not make any attempt to help him.With a long list of previous convictions for assault, housebreaking and theft, Krohne is a menace that society needs protection from, the Magistrate said.Tania Tait was the State prosecutor.