Online Reporter
A 65-YEAR-OLD Bulawayo teacher was sentenced to 20 years for raping two learners during private lessons, photographing one of them naked, and indecently assaulting the other.
Lawrence Kanengoni of Njube suburb pleaded not guilty to the charges but was convicted by Western Commonage regional magistrate Mrs Sibongile Marondedze based on overwhelming evidence presented during the trial.
In delivering the sentence, Mrs Marondedze stressed the gravity of the teacher’s betrayal of trust, saying the victims had looked to him for guidance and protection.
“As their teacher, it was his duty to safeguard his students. Instead, he abused his authority and exploited their vulnerability. The offender poses a danger to both the community and himself. His predatory behaviour demands a strong deterrent to prevent similar crimes in the future,” she said.
“There is an urgent need to protect the girl child and as such, the offender is sentenced to an effective 20 years in prison.”
In mitigation, Kanengoni pleaded for leniency, citing his advanced age and poor health. He also claimed that he only photographed the first victim naked at her request, an assertion contradicted by the prosecution’s evidence.
The prosecutor, Ms Christina Manyika, said the first incident occurred in September last year. Kanengoni had invited the victim and other learners to his home for extra lessons. After assigning them an exercise, he called the complainant into his bedroom under the pretence of retrieving a book she had left behind the previous day. There, he raped her and subsequently took nude photographs of her.
In the second incident, the court heard that another learner visited Kanengoni’s home for homework assistance. While helping her, he pulled the girl onto his lap, fondled her breasts, and touched her private parts.
The crimes came to light when a witness discovered the nude photographs on Kanengoni’s phone, forwarded them to her own device, and sent them to the first victim’s mother. This led to Kanengoni’s arrest.
