South Africa’s ‘Facebook Rapist’ gets 50 years in jail

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REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- He sent Facebook messages to young women offering them modeling careers, then lured them to hotels or remote places, raped them, slashed their faces and stole their belongings.

In a Durban court Friday, South Africa’s ‘Facebook Rapist,’ 22-year-old Thabo Bester, was sentenced to 50 years in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and two of aggravated armed robbery.

Bester, whose Facebook name was Thomas Bester, broke down several times in court, pleading that he had been a victim of rape himself. He told of a miserable life, raised on a farm by an alcoholic grandmother and abused. He said he never knew his parents.

But prosecutor Lolly Soobramany said Bester was a danger to society and that his victims would live with the trauma of his attacks for the rest of their lives.

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, and it is still on the rise. More than 56,000 women report being raped annually, but activists say the actual rate could be as much as nine times higher.

As a boy, Bester told the court, he was raped by one of his grandmother’s friends. When he turned to her for help, it was like talking to a wall, he testified. The effects were so severe he had to have an operation to repair the damage, he said.

Bester said that when his grandmother died, he moved to a squatter camp. He said he met a man who offered to help him but instead locked him in a shack for days and raped him. He said he turned to crime ‘to support myself.’

‘It is either you die or make a plan,’ he said. He was convicted of fraud in 2009, fined about $200 and jailed because he had no money to pay the fine. In prison, he was gang-raped, he said.

‘I know I have done terrible things. This is not truly who I am. I want the opportunity to make things right,’ he said Friday, appealing for leniency.

Even as Bester was jailed Friday, South Africans were transfixed by the capture of another alleged serial rapist -- and killer -- nicknamed the ‘Sunday Rapist’ by police because he often struck on Sundays.

A 35-year-old man turned himself in to police Thursday after allegedly abducting high school student Louise de Waal off a street in Roodeport, northwest of Johannesburg, Wednesday morning, raping and killing her. Her charred body was found on a farm Wednesday. The alleged killer claimed he had strangled De Waal before burning the body.

According to police, De Waal was walking with a friend, whom he pushed out of the way and then began chasing De Waal, dragging her to his vehicle.

Police said they believe the suspect to be responsible for about 10 other rapes.

‘Our little light was extinguished before she had any chance to shine, by a vile and savage act of violence,’ her family said in a statement released Friday. ‘Our family is extremely distraught and we are all pulling together from around the country to try and provide support to each other through this devastating time.’

The family thanked the many South Africans who have posted messages of support on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Louise de Waal would have turned 17 on Sunday.

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-- Robyn Dixon