A 38-year-old Western Cape police officer Jerome Coetzee was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the rape of an 18-year-old pregnant woman. The incident occurred during a staged drug raid.
The former police constable was sentenced by the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court this week, seven years after the attack took place.
WHAT DID THE OFFICER DO?
It is believed that, on 4 July 2018, Coetzee and two other officers went to the woman’s house to conduct a drug raid. After searching the premises, the woman was arrested when the officer claimed to have found three packets of drugs.
According to the South African Justice, Crime Prevention & Security Cluster, the officers drove the woman in a police bakkie supposedly to the police station. Coetzee then dropped off the two police officers at the police station and took the six-week-old pregnant woman to an isolated area, where he raped her.
OFFICER UNDER INVESTIGATION
The woman opened a case at the Strand SAPS in Cape Town, and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) took over the investigation. The police officer was later identified and charged.
He remained a member of SAPS during part of the investigation, but disciplinary proceedings led to his dismissal in March 2024.
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