EC farmer deemed a flight risk – denied bail on string of charges

[Nat Quinn]

A farmer from Aberdeen accused of rape, human trafficking, intimidation and assault has been denied bail.

Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Luxolo Tyali says they successfully opposed the bail of 41-year-old Louis Lategan in the Graaff-Reinet Magistrates Court.

He says the magistrate agreed with the prosecution that Lategan failed to prove exceptional circumstances for his release on bail and was a flight risk.

The magistrate further said that the accused had a propensity to commit schedule 1 offences and will interfere with witnesses.

Lategan has been in custody since July when he handed himself over to police in the company of his attorney.

Tyali says at this point, police had already obtained a search warrant and cyber crime warrant, which they immediately effected.

The farmer is accused of luring women to his farm under the pretence that they were being hired for babysitting and admin jobs.

The NPA says six complainants, who came from as far as Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal would go to his farm only to be drugged and raped on multiple occasions.

Tyali says one woman who managed to escape is now in a place of safety.

He says furthermore, Lategan is accused of assaulting a nine-year-old child with a broomstick.

The child was taken from the township in Aberdeen under the pretence to play with his children on the farm.

In his affidavit handed in support of his application, Lategan admitted that he was convicted in 2003 for hunting animals without a permit, convicted for reckless driving in 2004, convicted of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in 2006.

In January 2013, he was the fifth man to be arrested and charged for allegedly plotting to kill President Jacob Zuma and other high-ranking ANC officials during the Mangaung conference in 2012.

The trial of his co-accused became known as the “Boeremag Trial” which ran for over a decade.

In a surprising turn of events, a month after the farmer’s arrest in February of 2013, all treason charges were withdrawn against him in the Bloemfontein regional court.

The State believed he was part of the conspiracy in that he was tasked to blow up fuel tanks in Gqeberha.

At the time, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) did not want to elaborate as to whether or not the charges were withdrawn in exchange for his testimony.

In September 2022, he was convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault in Oudtshoorn for which he was given a wholly suspended sentence.

Friday’s case had to be moved from Aberdeen to Graaff-Reinet because the magistrate is presiding over another case where Lategan is facing a rape of a minor child.

source:EC farmer deemed a flight risk – denied bail on string of charges (algoafm.co.za)

 

 

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