Cape Town - A Karate sensei’s bid for freedom by having his conviction and sentence on charges of child pornography overturned has been quashed in the Western Cape High Court.
Judge Robert Henney made this ruling after hearing arguments from both the State and the legal representative for sensei Wessel Wilms.
The charges against Wilms originate from video images that he made of three young girls during December 2017 near Hoekwil, George. He placed a cellphone with a camera in the bathroom at his residence, creating video images of them while they were naked.
Wilms was convicted in the George Regional Court on February 8 and sentenced on April, 19, 2017. He was handed four years suspended for three years for the unlawful possession or manufacturing of child pornography.
He was also sentenced for four counts of crimen injuria to 24 months correctional supervision and his name would be placed in the National Register for Sex Offenders.
It was State prosecutor Evadne
Kortje’s submission that Wilms through, his actions, violated both the dignity and the privacy of the complainants.
She added that the existence of these videos constituted the creation of child pornography and that the entry of Wilms’ name in the National Register for Sex Offenders was correct.
In dismissing his application, Henney said: “I am not convinced that the regional magistrate in imposing a sentence in respect of crimen injuria and child pornography charges, that it was disproportionate to the crime, the interest of society and the offender.
“In my view the regional magistrate erred on the side of leniency when he imposed the respective sentences.”
@TheCapeArgus