Justice served: Western Cape High Court upholds life sentence for repeat rapist

A repeat offender rapist will stay behind bars for life after the appeal against his sentence was dismissed in the Western Cape High Court.

Audrey le Roux, 40, who at trial entered into a plea agreement admitting to the charges brought against him, brought his automatic appeal from the regional court.

His appeal came after being convicted and sentenced for the rape of a minor and a charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. His appeal was specifically against the life sentence he received in connection with the rape. 

According to the court judgment, the 13-year-old rape victim (first complainant) was in the company of her friend (second complainant) when they were accosted by Le Roux “out of the blue”.

He struck the second complainant with a stone (brick) on her head. 

The first complainant ran away, and Le Roux pursued her. He caught up with her, dragged her into the bushes, and raped her. Both complainants were minors at the time. 

In judgment, Judge Derek Wille dismissed the appeal and confirmed the life sentence.

The most relevant previous conviction for this appeal was for the rape of a minor, which occurred on May 27, 2010.

For this, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Two years of this previous sentence were suspended for a period of five years, subject to certain conditions.

Citing case law from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Judge Wille, who in his judgment of this matter pointed out that rape is a grave offence, said the SCA eloquently described crimes of this nature as follows:

“Rape must rank as the worst invasive and dehumanising violation of human rights. It is an intrusion of the most private rights of a human being, in particular a woman, and any such breach is a violation of a person’s dignity, which is one of the pillars of our Constitution. There does not seem to be any significant decline in the incidence of rape since the publication of the statistics referred to above... No matter how they are viewed, society has called, on more than one occasion, for the courts to deal with offenders of such crimes sternly and decisively.”

According to court records, the rape victim experienced nightmares and dropped out of school due to being ridiculed about what had happened to her.

Judge Wille said: “Crimes in general, but especially against women and children, offend against the aspirations and ethos of all South Africans. Not only do crimes against women in this country amount to a severe invasion of the dignity of the victims, but these crimes also do not contribute to our claims that we live in a gender-equitable and just society. This crime, perpetrated against a 13-year-old child, renders it even more reprehensible.

“This crime has a strong component of gender-based violence, which has regrettably reached pandemic proportions in our country. We believe an unambiguous message must be sent to offenders engaging in this type of criminal activity."

Judge Wille continued: “That this crime was committed against a 13-year-old child requires that in considering the issue of a sentence, the court must consider the provisions of Section 28 of the Constitution, namely the right of every child under Section 28(1)(d), to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation, a right which the appellant egregiously infringed in this case.”

Cape Times