CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A South African woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for selling her 6-year-old daughter.
Kelly Smith was sentenced by a judge alongside two others, her boyfriend and another man, who also received life sentences.
Smith’s daughter, Joshlin, went missing in February 2024 when she was 6, sparking a nationwide hunt by police in South Africa.
Smith, boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life terms for human trafficking and 10 years each for kidnapping.
A photograph of Joshlin smiling and with her hair tied in pigtails was broadcast by news stations across South Africa during the hunt for her.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — On Thursday, a South African woman who sold her 6-year-old daughter was given a life sentence.
In addition to Kelly Smith, two other men—her boyfriend and another man—were also given life sentences by the judge. They were all found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking earlier this month.
In February 2024, Smith’s 6-year-old daughter Joshlin vanished, leading to a nationwide police search in South Africa. She is still missing.
Smith was given a life sentence for human trafficking, and Jacquen Appollis, her boyfriend, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn received 10-year sentences for kidnapping.
At a recreation center in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay, Judge Nathan Erasmus read out their sentences. For the benefit of the local community, the trial was rescheduled to the sports center.
At first, Smith, whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith, was seen as a sympathetic figure after her daughter vanished. Near their impoverished shack neighborhood near Saldanha Bay, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Town, the community came together in support of her and offered to assist police in their search for Joshlin in the sand dunes.
During the search for Joshlin, news outlets all over South Africa aired a picture of her looking happy and sporting pigtails.
Smith claimed that the day she vanished, she had left Joshlin with Appollis; however, when Smith was taken into custody, the case took an unexpected turn.
During the trial, a woman testified that Smith had informed her that she and the two men had sold Joshlin to a traditional healer for about $1,000, who wanted the child’s body parts.
The judge’s ruling stated that the child had been sold for slavery or practices akin to slavery, but it made no judgments about who the child was sold to or what exactly happened to her.
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