Twitter meetup ends in rape
A 13-year-old Pretoria teenager was raped, allegedly by a 45-year-old man she met on social networking site Twitter, according to a report on Thursday.
Police spokeswoman Captain Marissa van der Merwe said the girl had played truant from school on March 13 to allow a man to meet her at her parents’ luxury home at the exclusive Silver Lakes golf estate in Pretoria east, Beeld reported.
“When the girl opened the door, she realised that the man was a lot older than he had pretended to be online,” Van der Merwe told the newspaper.
The girl tried to close the door, but he forced it open.
“She tried to get away from him, but was unable to, and he raped her.”
The alleged rapist was arrested shortly afterwards, and he appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for the second time on Wednesday.
He may not yet be named, as no charge had formally been put to him.
According to Van der Merwe, the victim had been speaking to the alleged predator online for some time, but he had not posted a picture of himself on his profile.
She urged people, especially children, to be wary on social networks.
“Don’t just invite strangers to your home. It’s dangerous.”
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