Pretoria Magistrates Court Sentences Man for Raping an 11-Year-Old Down Syndrome Child
- A court sentenced a 32-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome
- The incident happened in 2022 while the mother worked at her salon and the girl disappeared after the mother had locked up
- South Africans were fuming that he claimed that she was his girlfriend and gave him consent
Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
Source: Getty Images
PRETORIA, GAUTENG — South Africans were fuming that a 32-year-old man who was sentenced for raping a girl with Down syndrome said that the victim gave him consent because she was his girlfriend.
According to IOL, Thasbo Xolani Masoka was living in the same block of flats when the incident happened on 18 September 2022. The little girl was with her mother at her mom's salon. Her mother closed the salon just before 8 pm and noticed that her daughter was missing.
Residents of the flat helped her search for her daughter, and a witness said that they saw him walking with her to his flat. When the mother, accompanied by residents, found her daughter in Masoka's flat. They confronted him. He said that he did not know why she was there, and they called the police.
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What happened during the trial?
During the trial, Masoka claimed that he believed she was 17 years old and that they had consensual sex. He also claimed that she was his girlfriend. However, the prosecutor presented evidence proving that the child had no capacity to give consent.
During sentencing, he pleaded for leniency and said that he had a wife and three children to support. However, the prosecutor, Andries Ntjana, stated that he showed no remorse, as he continued to maintain his innocence even after his conviction. Magistrate Lynn Pillay sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Source: Getty Images
A look at other convicted rapists
A Mamelodi, Tshwane rapist was sentenced to over 400 years in prison for breaking into his victims' houses and raping them in 15 different houses between August 2017 and 2022. He was sentenced on 21 May 2025.
A pastor from Edenburg in the Free State was sentenced to two life sentences on 23 May 2025 for raping his stepdaughter on numerous occasions for three years. The incidents happened when her mother worked night shifts and was left with the pastor.
What did South Africans say?
Netizens commenting on Facebook were infuriated by the man's heinous crime.
Boitshoko Senne asked:
"Which lawyers put up this defence?"
Dale Frey said:
"This state doesn't play anymore. Everything is life imprisonment. I think they're getting gatvol now."
Francois Henricus Helmie said:
"That's said the minimum prescribed sentence in our jurisdiction."
Coleen Harmse asked:
"Oh, Jesus, what's happening in this world?"
Shannen Yushantha Ryan said:
"God, please protect these kids!"
Rapist given 25 years in prison for raping mentally disabled woman
In a related article, Briefly News reported that a Kimberley, Northern Cape man was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for raping a mentally-disabled woman in 2019. The incident happened when he was admitted to the hospital.
The man manipulated the victim into having sex with her. A security guard found him and alerted the nursing staff, who called the police.
Source: Briefly News
