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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
A BULAWAYO kombi driver who showed two primary school boys a pornographic video on his cellphone before luring them into a bush where he sodomised them before giving them $1, has been sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Lameck Mabhande, 19, of Queenspark suburb, also bought his young victims’ silence with sweets and promised them a free ride in his commuter omnibus.
Bulawayo regional magistrate Abednico Diliza Ndebele convicted Mabhande of four counts of aggravated indecent assault for abusing the boys aged 11 and 13.
He will serve an effective 20 years in jail after 10 years were suspended for five years on condition that he does not within that period commit a similar crime.
Ndebele in his judgment said the aggravating factors outweighed the sole mitigatory one.
“The only mitigatory factor is that you’re a youthful first offender who sodomised two young boys after showing them pornographic material. In fact, what you did is wrong and in bad taste, you corrupted the minds of the young boys and for that you deserve a long prison term,” said the magistrate.
Ndebele dismissed Mabhande’s defence in which he argued that one of the victims was influenced by his mother to lie against him.
Mabhande, in his defence, said charges against him were trumped up. He claimed that the one of the boys’ mother was after fixing him following a long standing dispute over change.
“The victim’s mother had no motive to lay false charges against you. The boys clearly narrated what transpired and the court believes their evidence. Sodomy is a serious crime and the justice of the matter will be met by a 30-year prison term. However, because of your age I will reduce it by 10 years on condition that you don’t in the next five years commit a similar crime,” ruled Ndebele.
Prosecuting, Concilia Ncube said sometime between November 2014 and May 2015, Mabhande met the two victims at Skippers Service Station along Beach Avenue in Sauerstown. He showed them a pornographic video on his mobile phone.
The court heard that Mabhande lured the two boys to a secluded place in Upper Sauerstown where he sexually assaulted them in turns. He gave them $1 to buy their silence.
On the following day, Mabhande met the victims at the same spot and he again lured them to the bush after promising to give them more money, sweets and a free ride in his kombi. The boys agreed to join him and he sexually attacked them before ordering them not to report the matter to anyone. He repeated the same act a few weeks later.
On the fourth occasion sometime in May, Mabhande spotted one of the victims while he was standing at the gate in front of his parents’ home shortly after 7PM.
The court heard that he called his name and the boy went to his vehicle which was parked outside and he asked him to accompany him to the city centre.
“When they arrived at the city centre he parked his kombi near some shops along 3rd Avenue and they disembarked and headed to a sanitary lane along Lobengula Street where he forced the boy to remove his pair of shorts before he sodomised him,” said Ncube.
The matter came to light on May 29 when the two boys were overheard by a sister to one of them discussing their experiences. She informed her aunt who in turn reported the matter to the police leading to Mabhande’s arrest.
The two boys were taken to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical examination which revealed that they sustained reflex anal dilatation and multiple tears on the tissues. According to the medical report, there was evidence of penetration on both victims.
In mitigation, Mabhande pleaded for leniency, saying he was driven by evil spirits to commit the crime.
Online Reporter