Mom of ‘sex slave girl’ arrested

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Cape Town - The mom who allegedly sold her own 13-year-old daughter as a sex slave for R50 a time has been arrested. She will appear in Atlantis Magistrates’ Court in the Western Cape on Monday morning charged with sexual exploitation. She also faces a separate rape-related charge. The woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was finally taken into custody on Friday. Her arrest followed nationwide outrage after the Daily Voice last week revealed how her daughter was allegedly “rented” to men on a wasteground and outside shebeens near their Atlantis home.

Prosecutors will try to prove the woman sold her daughter for R50 to men in exchange for sex while she fed her own alcohol addiction.

“The case was opened and the mother was arrested this morning on a charge of sexual exploitation,” provincial police spokesperson Warrant Officer November Filander said on Friday.

“She will appear in court on Monday.

“The case is still under investigation.”

Detectives have yet to determine how many men the girl was allegedly forced to have sex with and for how long the nightmare continued.

The child is currently in the care of Atlantis ward councillor and shelter owner, Barbara Rass.

The alarm was raised nearly two weeks ago when the brave teenager told her friend about the abuse, and in turn alerted one of their teachers.

Barbara says she is relieved the wheels of justice have finally begun to turn for the little victim.

“I am very glad that justice has taken place,” she told the Daily Voice.

“These types of children always fall victim again, so my job now is to take care of her. The child has already said she doesn’t want to go back to her mother.”

Barbara also thanked the Daily Voice for our coverage of the story, which went viral online last week.

“People were calling me from as far as Pretoria and Johannesburg,” she added.

“The Daily Voice helped to secure an arrest and for social development to call me. The paper played a huge role in the arrest and I want to say thank you.”

Daily Voice