Cape Town - A 74-year-old man has been convicted on 95 counts including the indecent assault of three teenage girls and the illegal possession of child pornography.
Parow Regional Court magistrate Amanda von Leeve found “without a doubt” that Johannes Kleinhans committed the sex acts as stipulated in the charge sheet.
Earlier this year, Kleinhans pleaded guilty to 95 counts including the manufacture and possession of child pornography and the indecent assault of three young girls aged between 13 and 15. The offences were committed at his rented home in Bellville between 2009 and 2010.
But during sentencing proceedings, Von Leeve overturned the guilty plea after finding that Kleinhans did not admit to all the elements of guilt.
The trial then had to start afresh.
His neighbour in Bellville found the activities taking place at the house strange and alerted police.
Kleinhans, who lived in Parow North with his family, was arrested in November 2010 and later released on R50 000 bail.
During the trial this year, the girls who Kleinhans assaulted testified against him. They made a good impression on the court, Von Leeve said, in comparison to the manner in which Kleinhans portrayed himself.
“The accused wanted to create the impression that he was a good person who helped people in need,” Von Leeve said.
The court heard that Kleinhans had financially supported two of the girls’ families by buying them food, paying for their school fees and other necessities.
Kleinhans had told one of the girls that if she did not do what he told her, he would make her mother repay him for all the monetary help he had given them.
When Kleinhans testified, he admitted guilt, saying: “Yes, I planned it and it was disgusting”.
But he distanced him from the allegations that he smacked one of the girls, and violated another with his finger and a sex toy.
Von Leeve dismissed his version, saying that after examining the pornographic images, Kleinhans was guilty.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the accused is guilty of all the charges and is consequently found guilty of all 95 counts,” Von Leeve said.
The charges include sexual assault, indecent assault, sexual grooming, compelled self-sexual assault and using children to benefit from child pornography.
The indecent and sexual assault charges relate to allegations that Kleinhans inappropriately touched the girls. He had also forced one of the girls to use sex toys on herself. The 89 pornographic images of the girls showed their naked bodies, exposed genitals and other body parts.