‘No remorse’ - Sentence handed to Chevonne Rusch’s mother welcomed
Chevonne Rusch's mother, Rochelle Botha, and her lover, Stefan van Niekerk, were convicted of the toddler's murder last year.
Botha was handed 25 years direct imprisonment, while Van Niekerk received a life sentence in the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.
The couple were convicted of murder, attempted sexual assault, child abuse, and neglect – among others – relating to the sustained abuse of Rusch and her siblings.
The pair were arrested when medical staff at a Primrose clinic alerted authorities to the severe injuries the child suffered, including over 40 bruises and bleeding on the brain, at the time of her death.
READ MORE: Court sentences mother of Chevonne Rusch to 25 years in prison
Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMCA) has welcomed the sentencing of a mother and her partner for the murder of the two-year-old.
WMCA's Luke Lamprecht, who took the stand in aggravation of sentence, said Botha showed no remorse throughout the trial.
“What was distressing was that the mother started crying hysterically after she was sentenced. She never cried for her children once in her trial. Even when I gave evidence in aggravation about what had happened to her children, she was emotionless…
“My opinion is that she should also get life because the way that she behaved, blaming everyone else and claiming her innocence, shows that she has no remorse whatsoever.”
Botha made an application to appeal her sentence.
“The prosecutor vehemently opposed the application because the judgment is solid and there’s no chance any other court will come to. What people must understand is that when there is that leave for appeal for a conviction, they can up the amount of time that she goes to jail,” added Lamprecht.
He said he believed Botha should also get a life sentence as a lesser sentence could give the impression that not intervening or reporting child abuse is “not as bad” as actively abusing children.
Botha’s appeal was set down for 22 May.
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