The National Prosecuting Authority's decision to charge with statutory rape all three of the pupils filmed having sex at a Johannesburg high school was taken to make an "example of them", a source close to the investigation said yesterday.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times that the decision was not in the best interests of the children, and that it had been made because of mounting public pressure and a desire to use more "forceful tactics" to deal with a "national epidemic [of underage sex]" at schools.
The 15-year-old girl, who had claimed that she had been drugged and raped by two boys, aged 14 and 16, on the sports grounds of Jules High School on November 4, appeared with the boys in the same courtroom at the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court yesterday.
The national director of public prosecutions, Menzi Simelane, authorised the prosecution of all three pupils on charges of engaging in "consensual sexual penetration" with a child [statutory rape].
In terms of the Sexual Offences Act, any person who sexually penetrates a child of 16 or younger, even with their consent, is guilty of an offence.
Sources who spoke to The Times said blood tests had confirmed that drugs had not been involved in the alleged rape.
