Kimberley - The bail conditions of a Plettenberg Bay computer engineer, accused of having links to an international child pornography network, have been altered to allow him to stay with his brother in Kimberley.
The 37-year-old man appeared in the Knysna Regional Court earlier this week, where it was agreed that his original bail conditions would be altered.
He was the first South African to be arrested in an international child porn investigation, involving South African and Belgian authorities.
NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse’s Joanne Barrett has confirmed that the man will be staying with his brother in Kimberley and has been instructed to report to the Kimberly police station once a week.
“We, at Women and Men Against Child Abuse, trust the State has ensured that he is not re-offending, no matter his whereabouts,” she said.
In January, he became the first South African arrested in a joint operation between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Belgian authorities responsible for cracking down on a child pornography ring, linked to a cyber meeting space for paedophiles whose fetishes seem to be the sexual abuse of babies.
His original bail conditions stipulated that he would not be allowed to leave Plettenberg Bay, but during an earlier court appearance he indicated that he wanted to move to Kimberley to find work.
The matter was postponed to Monday this week so that the investigating officer could look into the address where he would live if he left Plettenberg Bay.
During his latest appearance, the prosecution informed the court that they had confirmed his address in Kimberley.
He was arrested after South African and Belgian police raided his seaside home and allegedly found sections of files containing hundreds of images and videos of violent assaults as well as internet addresses of more than 300 other alleged paedophiles.
During his arrest, investigators seized his laptop, where they allegedly found traces of videos and photographs depicting violent assaults.
They also allegedly found an encrypted “rape and kill” file that provided access to a site with fetishes for the abduction, bondage, rape and murder of newborn babies.
The computer engineer is currently out on bail of R10 000.
Following the Plett arrest, 334 new suspects were identified, which in turn led to the arrest of a Port Elizabeth couple, as well as a 39-year-old man from Midrand.
It is believed that a further 81 suspects belonging to the global child pornography network were identified.
Since the arrests in South Africa, the Cloud 9 investigation has also led to three arrests in Belgium and nine additional persons of interest under investigation, two arrests in the USA and a further six cases that have been handed over to investigators in other countries. The bail conditions of a Plettenberg Bay computer engineer, accused of having links to an international child pornography network, have been altered to allow him to stay with his brother in Kimberley.
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