Rape of mentally retarded woman confirmed

Van der Bank was convicted by the Pretoria Regional Court last year, but he was referred to the High Court for sentencing. Van der Bank raped the young woman several times and indecently assaulted her when he gave her a lift to the special school she attended. He denied these charges and said the teenager, who was 16 at the time, had consented to sex, says the Pretoria News. But a teacher at the school earlier testified that the victim was so mentally impaired that she could not consent to sex as she did not know what it entailed. Counsel for Van der Bank objected to the conviction and complained that the victim testified through an intermediary, although she was not a child. Judge Natvarial Ranchod found that given her mental status, the correct procedure was followed in allowing her to testify through an intermediary. The court was told by the experts that although she was 19 when she took the stand last year, she had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old. Full Pretoria News report