Cape Town - Police have completed their investigation into a Plettenberg Bay computer engineer’s alleged links to an international child pornography network involving the distribution of images and videos of babies being sexually assaulted.
The 37-year-old man, who was arrested five months ago and cannot be named until he has pleaded, briefly appeared in the Knysna Regional Court on Wednesday.
The suspect was arrested on January 13 after police swooped on his home in the coastal holiday town.
The arrest came after a lengthy joint investigation by Belgian and South African police during which his internet address was found on an obscure online chat room for paedophiles with a fetish for the sexual abuse of babies in nappies.
The accused, dressed neatly in a blue shirt and formal pants, ran into the court’s restrooms after the proceedings in an attempt to avoid a crowd of anti-child abuse activists, as well as media representatives, who gathered in the court’s corridor.
He later made his way out of the court building covering his face with a book.
Prosecutor Chamelle Bastian informed the court that the investigation into the matter had been completed and asked for the matter to be postponed until August 14 for copies of the docket to be sent to the accused’s lawyer, Carle Jeppe.
Thereafter the final charge sheet would be formulated.
“This case will be ready for trial in August, six months after the suspect was arrested, and we applaud Sergeant Delene Grobler, the investigating officer in the matter, for an effective investigation and a very comprehensive report submitted to the court today resulting in the prevention of unnecessary delays,” Woman and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) spokeswoman Germaine Vogel said after Wednesday’s proceedings.
She and several members of the organisation as well as representatives of anti-child abuse group the Green Hearts of Plett gathered at the court on Wednesday to take a stand against crime against children.
Vogel said 140 suspects, who allegedly possessed and distributed the same images allegedly found in the man’s possession, had been identified since his arrest.
Meanwhile, a 34-year-old handyman appeared briefly in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court for the alleged sexual abuse of a child at a popular preschool.
He was arrested on June 8 after claims surfaced that he had allegedly sexually assaulted a six-year-old boy in the school’s toilets. The matter was postponed for a formal bail application to June 26. The State is opposing bail in the matter.
Garden Route Media