[imagesource:flickr]

In a case that has disgusted communities across Cape Town, the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court has sentenced disgraced lawyer Theo Hartzenberg to an effective eight years of direct imprisonment for the statutory rape and sexual exploitation of homeless boys at the beach.

On Tuesday, the court slapped Hartzenberg with eight years behind bars for exploiting a child and an additional three months for paying for sexual services from a person older than 18 years.

As if his crimes weren’t vile enough, the court ordered that Hartzenberg’s name be added to both the National Child Protection Register and the National Register for Sex Offenders. The formal legal aid lawyer has also been stripped of the right to possess a firearm—an appropriate measure for someone who preyed on society’s most vulnerable.

Per The Citizen, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the state had more than 20 charges against the lawyer, and he pleaded not guilty to all of them.

The state, determined to bring justice, prosecuted a full trial against the disgraced lawyer, calling witnesses who bravely testified about their experiences as victims of his predatory crimes.

Image: IOL

The first witness, a 21-year-old who had been homeless since the age of 18, identified Hartzenberg as a lawyer living in a block of flats near Muizenberg Beach. According to testimony, the witness first heard about Hartzenberg through other homeless boys and eventually met him while accompanying a friend.

Recounting one disturbing encounter, the witness recalled seeing Hartzenberg leaving his flats and heading towards the beach. The accused then went behind a wall, prompting the witness and his friend to follow—a move that would lead to yet another grim chapter in Hartzenberg’s pattern of exploitation.

“The accused called the friend, and the witness was on the lookout while the accused and the friend had sex. He was paid R100 for being on the lookout,” Ntabazalila said.

The following day, the witness, his friend, and another boy had sex with Hartzenberg, and he paid each of them R100.

Soon the word spread that homeless boys could engage in sex with Hartzenberg in exchange for payment.

“They would sit and wait for him to come out of his block of flats, watch him head to the beach, follow him, wait for him to finish smoking, have sex with him, get paid R100, and go,” he said.

“The accused would not speak to them, and the witness would use his money to buy food and glue. The witness also smoked button (Mandrax).”

The 21-year-old victim stated that Hartzenberg engaged in these sex acts from Monday to Friday, often using Muizenberg Beach’s colourful bungalows as his sordid weekend venue.

According to the witness, Hartzenberg would occupy one bungalow while homeless boys, lured by the promise of money, waited in the adjacent one. Taking turns, they would enter the “hokkie” to perform sexual acts in exchange for R100 each.

Image: Independent Newspapers

The second witness was a boy of just 16, who testified via CCTV camera facilities and corroborated the evidence presented by the 21-year-old witness. This witness was a learner at the time, but he would bunk school on Fridays to beg at the beach, behind his parent’s backs.

The teenager testified that during his first encounter, he attempted to have sex with Hartzenberg but failed to get an erection and still received R100.

“On the following occasions, he and the other boys had sex with the accused and at the ‘hokkies’ on weekends, and each was paid R100,” Ntabazalila said.

“He also alleged that other boys would go but not get an erection; they would be paid R50.”

State prosecutor Jacqueline Hefele argued in court that the lawyer knowingly targeted and exploited these young, vulnerable street children.

“The accused knew the victims as he admitted to giving them money and food, and the witnesses had no reason to fabricate evidence against their benefactor,” Ntabazalila said.

South Africans have been left outraged, calling for harsher consequences for predators who abuse their positions of power and exploit the country’s most defenceless.

Wynberg Regional Court found that the State proved its case against the accused. Adv Nicolette Bell, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, has expressed her unequivocal disdain for Theo Hartzenberg’s despicable actions, welcoming his sentence behind bars.

[source:citizen]