The Western Cape High Court sitting in George has sentenced child murderer Timothy Michael Ova to two life terms for the murders of 9-year-old friends Sharon Arries and Jacorene Vaaltyn.
The court further sentenced Ova to two months’ direct imprisonment for illegal possession of ammunition, five months’ direct imprisonment for attempting to defeat the administration of justice and six months’ imprisonment for indecent assault of his niece which he committed 24 years ago, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently effectively sentencing Ova, 54, to life imprisonment.
On February 27, the court convicted Ova on two counts of murder, illegal possession of ammunition and attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
His conviction and sentence follows senior State advocate Lenro Badenhorst’s meticulous work as he pieced together a case that was based on circumstantial evidence.
Sharon and Jacorene disappeared on September 21, 2022, after Wacimou Daniels and his friend last saw them playing in front of Ova’s yard.
“Their families and the community panicked as the two friends did not return home that evening. Frantic searches started and the accused denied the girls visited his house. At one point when Arries’s foster mother, Florina Paulse, and Jacorene Vaaltyn’s mother, Maureen Vaaltyn, asked him about their whereabouts, he denied seeing them and instead offered the two women fizzy drinks and smoked cigarettes with them while they were all talking about the disappearance.
He even wished they would find the deceased. He never joined the searches,” Ntabazalila said.
Badenhorst called 28 witnesses ranging from minors who saw the two girls playing in front of Ova’s yard in Theronsville, Albertinia, to adults who discovered their sand-covered bodies a day later.
“Florina Paulse and Maureen Vaaltyn testified of their suspicions as Ova looked nervous when the topic was brought up and at one time he was shivering.
"Dr Christa Hattingh, who conducted the post-mortems, testified that the deceased were alive when they breathed in the sand which was found in their mouths and nostrils.
They were smothered in the sand,” Ntabazalila said.
Badenhorst’s efforts paid off as Judge Matthew Francis convicted Ova, finding that he had shown no remorse and was incapable of appreciating the devastating consequences and impact of his actions on the deceased’s family and the community.
Judge Francis also found that without accepting his guilt or fully appreciating the consequences of his actions, the prospects for rehabilitation were remote.
“Judge Francis told the accused that society was crying out for a strong message to be sent to perpetrators of gender-based violence and the murder of children, and to would-be perpetrators of the crime. He found nothing in the pre-sentencing report or in any submission that persuaded the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence in respect of the murders.”
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Nicolette Bell applauded the prosecution and investigation team and the community of Albertinia for the roles they played in ensuring justice for the families of the two girls. She called on communities to be more vigilant and jealously guard against the abuse of children.
Cape Times