FREE STATE SUFFERS SCOURGE OF CHILD RAPES.

(SUBS: NOTE GRAPHIC DETAILS SUPPLIED BY POLICE) Four teenagers and ten children, aged between six and 12, were raped in several incidents in the Bethlehem area in the eastern Free State over the weekend, police said on Sunday. Captain Veronice Ntepe said the accused in three of the incidents were minors -- some of them as young as four years old. In another incident, a man allegedly paid eight girls 50 cents each after he sexually harassed them. On Saturday, a seven-year-old girl in Intabazwe near Harrismith told her mother she had been raped by four boys -- two of them aged 10, the others four and six years old. The five of them were playing in the street when the four boys ordered her to lie on the ground. They took turns in raping her. Police said the boys would probably be arrested and be sent for counselling. In another incident, a man allegedly approached eight girls, aged between 6 and 9, who were playing at a site in Ladybrand. The site is situated between Manyatseng and a plot named Mauersne. The man approached the girls and ordered them to show their private parts while he masturbated. All the girls obeyed. "They were instructed to bend forward with their panties pulled down. He then licked all the victims' private parts from behind. "They were again instructed to sit down with their legs wide spread, whilst the suspect went on his knees in front of the children and started playing with his penis until he ejaculated. He never touched them. "He ordered them to come one by one and showed them his sperm. He further told the children that it was sperm and it creates babies," she said. Each girl was then given 50 cents and the man walked away. Ntepe said the man was wearing black denim jeans, a blue shirt and white takkies. He is of average build, light in complexion and has grey hair. In another case, a 13-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by his friend, aged ...