A Cape Town man accused of taking pornographic pictures of two young girls later bought Christian books for them, the Parow Regional Court heard yesterday.
Johannes Kleinhans, 74, of Parow, who formerly held directorships in several companies, is on trial before magistrate Amanda van Leeve.
He faces 94 charges which include indecent and sexual assault on three young girls, possession of child pornography and taking pornographic photographs of the girls.
He initially pleaded guilty to all the charges, but his plea was changed to not guilty when his testimony in mitigation of sentence amounted to a denial of guilt.
At yesterday’s proceedings, he was taken under cross-examination by prosecutor Herculine Swart, who asked how he had “gotten into” child pornography.
He said he became interested in pornography during one of his many overseas business trips, but never developed an interest in child pornography.
Questioning him about the photographs that he took of the girls, Swart said it was not normal for a man of Kleinhans’s age to take pictures of naked young girls.
Kleinhans replied: “No, you are right, they are disgusting.”
He said he felt so disgusted after taking the photographs that on an overseas trip he bought two Christian books for the girls.
He said he had intended to wipe the images off his computer, but they had ended up in a drawer instead.
Swart suggested: “You didn’t wipe them off because you didn’t want to.”
He had “groomed” the girls, starting with food, then clothing, then progressing to money, Swart said.
She reminded him: “You are a father yourself, Mr Kleinhans…” Kleinhans replied: “I am very sorry about what I did. I have no name or reputation anymore, the media has seen to that. My family is ashamed of me.”
Swart said she knew exactly how difficult it had been for the young girls, as she had spent two years trying to persuade them to testify.
“And then you want to blame them for everything.”
Swart reminded him of a video that had been shown to the court, in which Kleinhans begs one of the girls to remove her top.
She refuses persistently.
Closing argument is to be presented today. – Sapa