A 73-year-old suspect was arrested for alleged rape. Image via: Adobe Stock
Jacobus Petoors convicted of raping and murdering boy, 8, while out on parole for similar crime
Jacobus Petoors, 55, was convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder. He will be sentenced on Thursday. The State wants him to spend life behind bars.
A 73-year-old suspect was arrested for alleged rape. Image via: Adobe Stock
The Cape Town High Court convicted Jacobus Petoors for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Reagan Gertse, 8, from Tulbagh in the Western Cape.
JACOBUS PETOORS CONVICTED OF 2020 CHILD MURDER
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the 55-year-old accused pleaded guilty to the three charges and was immediately convicted on Wednesday.
Petoors will be sentenced on Thursday, 27 January.
The State and defence made their arguments for aggravation and mitigation of the sentence.
According to the State, the deceased was seen in the company of Jacobus Petoors on the morning of his death – 29 February 2020.
Reagan was invited to the birthday party of Amelia Booysen in Blesbok Street, Tulbagh, which was scheduled for 16:00.
The deceased reportedly left the party after half an hour. He was later seen in Petoors’ company between 17:00 and 18:00.
Reagan did not return home that evening and his concerned family formed a search party to look for him.
His body was found in bushes on 1 March.
Jacobus Petoors confessed, in his plea explanation, that he ran into Reagan on the day of his disappearance.
The accused said he knew the child because he lived a few houses away.
The accused said he called Reagan and told him that he wanted to go for a swim in the local river – it was a hot day – and the boy allegedly asked to accompany him.
Reagan was seen with Petoors while they were walking to the river.
Ntabazalila said the accused and deceased walked past a boy and a woman. The boy called Reagan and he wanted to join them – and eave Petoors – but he fell.
“Petoors grabbed him, placed his arm around his neck and instructed him to go with. When they arrived at the river, he raped him,” said the NPA spokesperson.
Reagan then asked Petoors to let him go home but Petoors refused and dragged him closer to the river where he pushed his head into the ground until he stopped moving.
“He then picked up his body and placed it near some trees with his face facing down. He then went home,” said Ntabazalila.
Reagan’s mother, Louisa Gertse, confronted Petoors and asked him where her son was as community members had seen them together. He denied knowing where the boy was.
Petoors was arrested a day later on 1 March 2020. He was released on parole just three months before killing Reagan. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for rape and assault GBH in 2012.
The accused told the court that he regretted his actions. He asked for forgiveness and took full responsibility.
Advocate Maresa Engelbrecht said Reagan’s murder was part of the scourge of child murders that are plaguing the Western Cape and South Africa at large, in the heads of her argument for aggravation.
“Rape is always an appalling act, but the rape of a child under the age of 16 years, in this case eight years old, is viewed in a particularly serious light because children are vulnerable and ill – equipped to protect themselves against sexual predators. There is an unacceptable level of violent crimes in our communities and especially against children, women and the elderly.
“The accused needs to be removed from the community as he contributed to the very unacceptable high levels of crime in our country,” said Engelbrecht, closing her argument.
She called for the court to sentence Petoors to life imprisonment because there were no mitigating factors.
She said his guilty plea was made in the face of no other options as his DNA had been found on Reagan’s scrotum and pants.
Petoors is currently in jail serving the remainder of his 12-year sentence – 1604 days. He will be sentenced for what he did to Reagan on Thursday.
