Loano Vergotine, the Ceres rapist, who was found guilty on several counts of rape and child pornography charges turned to face the media, raised his middle finger and clearly uttered the words "F**k you."
Leano Vergotine, 41, was on Monday found guilty on 15 of 17 charges against him in the Western Cape High Court, currently sitting at the Wynberg Regional Court.
Acting Judge Amanda Van Leeve delivered her long-awaited judgment in the case, opening proceedings by instructing Vergotine to stand as she began her reading.Van Leeve found Vergotine guilty on charges of rape, possession of child pornography, using a child for child pornography, sexual grooming, creation of child pornography in contravention of the Films and Publications Act, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and assault.
He was found not guilty on charges of kidnapping and attempted rape.The State had alleged that Vergotine, from Ceres, targeted several minors in separate incidents. Prosecutors alleged he raped a 16-year-old girl in September 2022, anally penetrated and raped a 15-year-old boy while filming the attack, and groomed and raped a nine-year-old child on multiple occasions.
He is also alleged to have performed oral sex on his boy victims.Video evidence proved central to the State's case, with prosecutors presenting multiple recordings allegedly made by Vergotine himself. State Prosecutor Renée Uys had argued that several charges, which the defence sought to have treated as duplications, were in fact distinct, each stemming from separate videos recorded on the same day using a single device. During closing arguments, defence attorney Nawaal Abduragmaan had sought to dispute several aspects of the charges.
