Francois Havenga, a 44-year-old Norwich Paedophile male, has been sentenced to imprisonment after being convicted of raping a schoolgirl and engaging in reckless driving in Ipswich.
Francois Havenga, from the Norwich area, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Friday for sentencing.
Francois Havenga received a sentence for rape and reckless driving. He was convicted of two counts of child rape and one count of reckless driving of an Audi A3 on the A140 at Brockford and Spinner Close in Ipswich.
The jury had acquitted the defendant of the initial hazardous driving allegation and rendered a verdict of careless driving instead.
It was alleged that when Francois Havenga was suspected of the child rape offences he sent a text message saying he was sorry and that he was “going to carry on driving until he ran out of road”.
Police were alerted and officers tried to stop Francois Havenga on the A140 but he had sped off and had allegedly driven dangerously on the A140 and in Ipswich before decamping from his car and fleeing on foot, the court previously heard.
Following his arrest, Francois Havenga denied raping a schoolgirl and he also denied having a sexual interest in children.
The mother of the girl provided a victim impact statement to the court.
The court heard the girl would cry herself to sleep and that Havenga had threatened to kill her and her family if she said anything.
She explained: “She has a vacant look and doesn’t hear anyone talking or anyone else around her sometimes.
“She is not comfortable being cuddled.
“She struggles to sleep and wakes up constantly through the night and the nights she does sleep is out of sheer exhaustion.
“She is worried he will be released and that he will come to the house”, the court heard.
“She has tried to be strong and she is keeping it all in which worries me” the mother said.
Judge David Wilson gave Francois Havenga a 12-year determinate custodial sentence with three years on extended licence, meaning the defendant will have to serve at least eight years in prison.
The defendant’s driving licence was also endorsed with six points and he will be subject to the sex offenders register indefinitely.
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