On Monday morning, a relatively young couple heard the court declare them guilty and sentence them for jointly committing the sexual assault of another young woman. As a result, they each received a two-year prison sentence.
The case involves Aaron Vrolijk and Shakienne Croes, who were accused of committing the sexual offense on March 19th of last year.
During the trial, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 42 months for both the man and the woman. There were three charges against them, but in the end, the court ruled that two of the charges—which claimed that the victim was unconscious or in a state where she could not consent—were not proven. The first charge of sexual assault, however, was proven. That charge stated that on March 19th, 2024, the two defendants together forced another young woman to endure acts of sexual penetration and other sexual acts.
On March 19th, a police officer on patrol spotted a young woman sitting on the sidewalk around 5:00 am. She was crying and appeared frightened. According to what she told the officer, she had gone out with a couple who were her friends and ended up at their apartment that night. There, they pulled her clothes off, and the man sexually assaulted her.
She ran out of the apartment and tried to contact another friend, but her phone battery had died. She was taken to the hospital where the necessary tests were performed, and she filed a formal complaint.
How it started
The night before the incident, the victim had gone out with a friend and met Shakienne at Linear Park, who was with her boyfriend Aaron. Later, they agreed to meet again at a nightclub. But before that, the victim dropped her other friend off at home.
She then continued the night by visiting two more clubs. At the end of the night, the female defendant asked the victim to leave her car at her house, promising they would come pick her up again to go to their apartment. The victim didn’t suspect anything, even when at the apartment, the couple told her to come into the bedroom. She thought they were going to sleep, but then Shakienne started kissing and touching her.
The victim admitted she was under the influence of alcohol and at first didn’t know how to react. But when Shakienne told her boyfriend to have sex with her (the victim), she became scared. The man removed her bra and underwear, and she immediately told them, “I don’t want this.” Still, her friend pushed Aaron to penetrate her, which he did.
The victim said she felt severe pain and told the man to stop, which she repeated several times. When she started crying, Shakienne finally said, “Okay, okay. Just watch how he’s doing it with me.” While they were having sex, the victim tried to grab her clothes and run away, but her friend jumped in front of the door to stop her from leaving. The unwanted sexual acts continued until the victim begged the man to stop again.
When they returned her phone, she tried to call her friend, but Shakienne took the phone away to stop her from telling him what happened.
She tried to call her friend several times and sent messages to another friend, but no one responded, and her battery died. She returned to the apartment to ask to borrow a charger, but they didn’t have one that fit her phone. At that point, they even asked her why she was crying.
Police took a statement from the other friend who had gone out with the victim earlier that night, and she confirmed everything the victim had said. She had also received messages that said “they’re forcing me” followed by crying face emojis. The victim begged her friend to come get her because she was in a lot of pain.
The victim’s male friend also gave a statement confirming he received different messages from her saying they were trying to force her and asking him to come get her. When he called, it was Shakienne who answered and refused to let him speak to the victim. After that, the phone was turned off.
DNA samples confirmed the presence of sperm—nearly a 100% match to Aaron—found deep inside the victim’s vagina. This confirmed that penetration had occurred.
In reaching a verdict, the court considered the emotional state the police officer described when he found the victim crying. It also took into account the victim’s statement and the messages retrieved from the phones. The fact that Shakienne wouldn’t let the victim talk to her friend after the incident and admitted to encouraging Aaron to penetrate her also weighed heavily.
Both defendants denied the rape. They admitted that something had been initiated but claimed it didn’t go further because the victim didn’t want to continue. The court pointed out that not only did their statements contradict each other, but in some places, they were significantly different. Aaron denied penetrating the victim, despite DNA evidence to the contrary, which undermined their credibility.
The court found them guilty of sexual assault. It took into account that they may not have had a premeditated plan to rape the victim. “You crossed the line,” the judge told them. The fact that, according to witnesses, they eventually stopped did not help because by then, the act had already been committed.
The sentence imposed was lighter than what is typically given in such cases. This was partly because two of the three charges could not be proven and also because neither defendant had a history of involvement in such cases.
Both were sentenced to two years in prison. They were also ordered to pay a total of 5,000 florins for emotional damages. If they don’t pay, each will serve an additional 112 days.
They have two weeks to decide whether to appeal the decision.
