Port Elizabeth – A 23-year-old man who created 108 images of child pornography was sentenced to an effective eight years behind bars in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Dylan Gouws was arrested in March last year after taking photographs of children's private parts. His camera was confiscated and images of young boys were discovered. Pornographic images and 24 explicit comics were also discovered on his hard drive.
Gouws was convicted earlier this year after pleading guilty to four charges relating to the creation and possession of child pornography.
In handing down sentence, magistrate Thandeka Mashiyi said that she had had to take into consideration the interests of the community.
Mashiyi said that the exploitation of children had "exploded" in the current digital age and pornography was a heinous and malicious crime against children. "Abuse of children shames us as a nation and children do not deserve this," she said.
Meanwhile, a mother of a 7-year-old boy was also at court on Wednesday to follow the case.
She claimed that during 2014 Gouws had sexually assaulted her son by touching him inappropriately. She said her son had since become withdrawn and did not trust men in general.
The child's grandmother walked in on the alleged incident but after she passed away that same year, the case was subsequently withdrawn.