His victims were only eight‚ nine and eleven years old. At knife-point‚ he forced their little friends to watch as he raped them. Now justice has finally been served.

Isaac Pita‚ a 28-year-old man from Welkom‚ has been sentenced to two life terms and an additional 53 years imprisonment‚ the Free State Directorate of Public Prosecutions said on Tuesday.

Pita was sentenced by the Welkom Sexual Offences Court on Monday. Magistrate Deon van Rooyen found him guilty on two counts of rape‚ four counts of indecent assault and two counts of compelling children to witness a sexual offence.

According to evidence presented in court‚ Pita raped the first victim who was nine years old at the time‚ in June 2006‚ the directorate said. He forced the complainant at knife-point to walk with him to a nearby construction area and raped her.

In August 2006‚ he threatened a 9-year-old girl who was walking with her 7-year-old friend with a knife and forced them to accompany him to a nearby school. He raped the 9-year-old girl while the other girl was watching.

The two cases were closed as the minors could not identify their attacker.

Pita‚ however‚ continued with his crime spree when he raped two girls aged 11- and 8-years-old in March 2016. He forced one girl to watch as he raped the other.

One of these girls knew his name and he was arrested a few days later.

The DNA results came back positive and linked him to the two incidents of 2006‚ said the directorate.

The state prosecutor‚ Charmaine Labuschagne‚ had asked the court to impose a heavy sentence on Pita because he repeatedly preyed on vulnerable girls who were in no position to defend themselves against a grown-up man carrying a knife.

“The actions of the accused are serious‚ despicable and against the community. In light of the evidence that is in front of the court about the nature of these crimes and the attitude of the accused towards the crimes he has committed‚ the only reasonable decision that the court could come to‚ is a lengthy term of direct imprisonment‚” said Labuschagne.

Magistrate van Rooyen agreed with the prosecution and sentenced Pita to a life sentence for each of the two counts of rape‚ 12 years for each of the four counts of indecent assault and five years for each of the two counts of compelling children to witness a sexual offence.

Pita will effectively serve two life sentences plus 53 years after the magistrate ordered the sentences for compelling a child to witness a sexual offence to run concurrently‚ the prosecutions directorate said.