Life sentence for teacher convicted of raping learner during school hours

A teacher in the Western Cape has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a learner in class during school hours. 

Jeremy Claasen, 38, was convicted in the Worcester Regional Court for raping the Grade 8 learner. 

The victim will not be named to avoid secondary trauma. 

State Prosecutor Cornelius Prinsloo revealed to the court that Claasen was the girl’s Life Orientation teacher, and he started chatting to her on social media platforms when she joined the school. The court heard the teacher built a relationship of trust and won the child’s affection to the point where she felt comfortable around him. 

On February 7, 2020, the learner went to charge her phone in the teacher’s classroom. The teacher closed the door and told her to sit on a bench. The court heard Claasen made advances towards his learner and then raped her in the classroom. Three days later, she told a close friend, who told a teacher, and the teacher reported this to the principal, who involved the police and ultimately arrested Claasen. 

The learner was examined at the Worcester Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where psycho-social support services were also provided. 

During the trial, the State presented the evidence of the victim through means of a closed-circuit television system with the assistance of an intermediary in a closed court session to negate any secondary trauma of testifying in Claasen’s presence. The State also led the evidence of the victim’s friend as the first report, as well as a medico-legal examination conducted by a doctor, which confirmed evidence of sexual penetration.  

Claasen claimed he could not have raped the learner as he was in court paying a traffic fine at the time. 

Prinsloo argued that the alibi was a recent fabrication as it was never put to the State witnesses during cross-examination. The court indicated the State correctly argued that the victim was a credible and reliable witness whose testimony found consistency and corroboration through the evidence of her friend and that of the doctor, in contrast to the accused’s version, which was riddled with inconsistencies and improbabilities highlighted during cross-examination. It found his alibi improbable and false beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted him on the charge of rape.

In aggravation of sentence, Prinsloo argued that Claasen manipulated his position of authority and trust and violated a learner in an environment where she was supposed to feel safe. She was violated in an environment where she went to every day to further her education and therefore violated her fundamental rights to human dignity, bodily integrity, and basic education.

Based on his predatory actions towards her, it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. He targeted her early on and waited for the right opportunity to satisfy his perverse needs and that based on his evidence before court that there exist no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment as the interest of the community and the seriousness of the offense far outweighs the personal circumstances of the accused. 

The court agreed with the prosecution that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment and sentenced him to life imprisonment.