Three years in prison for crack binge rape

A YOUNG Windhoek resident convicted of raping a seven-year-old girl while he was high on dagga and crack cocaine was sentenced to an effective three years’ imprisonment yesterday.

Judge President Petrus Damaseb sentenced Laizer Kuhlewind (24) in the High Court in Windhoek to seven years’ imprisonment, of which four years were suspended for five years on condition that Kuhlewind is not convicted of rape committed during the period of suspension.Kuhlewind was found guilty on a charge of rape in October last year. Following the delivery of the Judge President’s verdict Kuhlewind’s case was postponed to await pre-sentence reports from social workers who were asked to look into the personal circumstances of both Kuhlewind and the complainant in the matter.Kuhlewind was accused of having sexually molested a seven-year-old girl at his home in Katutura on June 18 2008. It was alleged that he committed this crime by inserting a finger into the girl’s private parts – something that would be classified as an act of rape under the Combating of Rape Act of 2000.When he testified in his own defence Kuhlewind told the court he was so drugged on cannabis and crack cocaine on the day of the alleged incident that he could not remember anything about the events.Based on the testimony of the girl and her brother, who claimed to have seen Kuhlewind do the deed, Judge President Damaseb found him guilty as charged.Under the Combating of Rape Act, a minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment awaited Kuhlewind. The Judge President however found that there were substantial and compelling circumstances present in the case which would warrant a deviation from the prescribed sentence.The offence was not premeditated or planned, and was not accompanied by violence or threats of violence or the use of weapons, Judge President Damaseb noted. Kuhlewind was also acting with diminished responsibility due to his drugged condition, and immediately let the girl go when she screamed, he said.In addition to that, he has shown that he regretted the incident.’He seems truly remorseful for what he has done,’ the Judge President said.He said he was also taking into account that Kuhlewind was a young offender and that he had an unhappy upbringing.The court was informed that Kuhlewind’s father abandoned his mother while she was pregnant. His mother was sickly, and he went to live with another family as a small child and then had to fend for himself for much of his adolescence, Judge President Damaseb recounted.Youthfulness, coupled with intoxication, has always been regarded as a strong mitigating factor, the Judge President said.Kuhlewind spent about 18 months in all in custody before his case was finalised.Defence lawyer Boris Isaacks represented him during his trial. State advocate Erick Moyo prosecuted.