Five-year-old's murderer sentenced to 16 years
|Published
Jimmy Boesak killed his girlfriend’s young son, Caleb Ouman, last year. Jimmy Boesak killed his girlfriend’s young son, Caleb Ouman, last year.
Johannesburg - Exactly one year since five-year-old Caleb Ouman died from the injuries he sustained during a lengthy beating, the father figure in his life has been sentenced to an effective 16 years in prison.
On August 31, 2017, Jimmy Boesak brutally attacked the child, whom he had been caring for. He was arrested shortly after the young boy succumbed to his injuries.
During his criminal trial, Boesak admitted he had used a belt to whip the child, a hairbrush to smack his head, and then used a recently extinguished match to burn the child’s upper body. However, it was prosecutor Roelene Bester who ultimately proved that the attack was even more severe, with Boesak also using a broom or mop handle to beat the child, smashed the five-year-old’s head against a wall, and using a cigarette to make the burns found on the child’s body.
Boesak claimed throughout the trial that the reason he had abused the child - on more than just the one occasion - was because he had heard rumours in his neighbourhood that the young boy had been having sex with other boys. According to Boesak, he had heard from neighbours in Chrisville, Joburg Central, that his child had engaged in sexual activities, and that he was punishing the boy for his behaviour. The rumours were disproved through the criminal trial with the help of medical experts.
On Wednesday this week, Judge Thami Makhanya found Boesak guilty of the murder, as well as another charge of assault with intent to cause grievious bodily harm for another incident where Boesak whipped the then 4-year-old child with a wet washcloth after punching him at full force. Boesak was also convicted on a third charge of common assault for an incident where he pinched the child so hard he caused damage to the child’s skin.
On Friday at the High Court sitting at Palm Ridge, Judge Makhanya acknowledged the heinousness of Boesak’s crimes, but ultimately chose not to adhere to the minimum prescribed sentence of life imprisonment for murder. The judge said the accused had become obsessed with the idea that the child had been engaging in sexual activity with other boys, obsessed to the point that he became irrational and impulsive. The judge believed this diminished restraint ultimately resulted in irrational behaviour that meant the accused had diminished responsibility for the crime.
He said he believed the accused was remorseful for the crime. He also acknowledged Boesak’s claims that he had been abused as a child by other boys. Because of these circumstances, Judge Makhanya sentenced Boesak to an effective 16 years in prison for all three charges.