Khorixas rapist is repeat offender, court hears

FORMER Khorixas resident Gerhardus Bezuidenhout, who was convicted in the High Court on charges of rape and abduction on Friday, also has a previous conviction for rape dating back some ten and a half years, the Judge presiding over his trial was informed on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Bezuidenhout has a criminal record of five previous convictions, including one for rape, Judge President Petrus Damaseb was told when Bezuidenhout appeared before him for the start of sentencing proceedings in his trial yesterday. The Judge President on Friday found Bezuidenhout guilty on charges of abduction and rape.He had been accused of having abducted a 14-year-old girl while she was on her way home from a club at Khorixas during the early morning hours of July 19 2003.After forcing her at knifepoint to go with him, he raped her repeatedly both on the way to his house at the town, and thereafter at the house, the court had heard during his trial.Bezuidenhout had also been convicted on a charge of rape in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court in June 1995, State Advocate Trudie de Villiers told the Judge President when she placed his record of previous convictions before the court.He had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on that charge, she related.Bezuidenhout had further been convicted on a charge of robbery, on which he received an effective jail term of twelve months, in February 1995, as well as on a charge of assault in July 2001, another of assault by threat in February 2002, and one of crimen injuria in August 2008, the court was also told.Bezuidenhout admitted the previous convictions, through his defence lawyer, Ivo dos Santos.In brief testimony in mitigation of sentence, he told the court that he was 31 years old, unmarried, the father of two children aged 12 and 11, and that he had made a living by playing soccer and farming on his parents’ farm.He has been in custody since 2003, he said.Bezuidenhout’s trial is scheduled to continue on February 15, after De Villiers asked to be given time to get hold of the record of Bezuidenhout’s previous rape trial, as this may be relevant to the High Court in determining what sentence to impose.The Judge President on Friday found Bezuidenhout guilty on charges of abduction and rape.He had been accused of having abducted a 14-year-old girl while she was on her way home from a club at Khorixas during the early morning hours of July 19 2003.After forcing her at knifepoint to go with him, he raped her repeatedly both on the way to his house at the town, and thereafter at the house, the court had heard during his trial.Bezuidenhout had also been convicted on a charge of rape in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court in June 1995, State Advocate Trudie de Villiers told the Judge President when she placed his record of previous convictions before the court.He had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on that charge, she related.Bezuidenhout had further been convicted on a charge of robbery, on which he received an effective jail term of twelve months, in February 1995, as well as on a charge of assault in July 2001, another of assault by threat in February 2002, and one of crimen injuria in August 2008, the court was also told.Bezuidenhout admitted the previous convictions, through his defence lawyer, Ivo dos Santos.In brief testimony in mitigation of sentence, he told the court that he was 31 years old, unmarried, the father of two children aged 12 and 11, and that he had made a living by playing soccer and farming on his parents’ farm.He has been in custody since 2003, he said.Bezuidenhout’s trial is scheduled to continue on February 15, after De Villiers asked to be given time to get hold of the record of Bezuidenhout’s previous rape trial, as this may be relevant to the High Court in determining what sentence to impose.