Durban - A MAN who recorded himself engaged in sexual activities with a child has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in the Durban Regional Court.
James Prinsloo, 53, also received a five-year sentence for possession of child pornography during Wednesday's proceedings. He appeared before Magistrate Melanie de Jager, who said the sentences would run concurrently.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said a Huawei phone was found in a taxi in April 2019. The contents of the memory card contained child pornography. The card also had images of a man who was believed to have taken photographs of the children. She said the phone was password locked and could not be accessed initially.
“The card was analysed and a possible suspect was identified. Efforts to trace the victims in the Durban area were fruitless. Some of the children were dressed in school uniform. Investigations resulted in identifying a man who resembled the suspect,” she said.
The provincial Serial and Electronic Crimes Investigation Unit arrested Prinsloo in the Point area in November last year.
“Further efforts were made to trace the children. The children were positively identified and admitted to being sexually assaulted by the suspect,” Mbele said.
In court yesterday, prosecutor Shayna Naidoo asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed on Prinsloo. She said an aggravating factor was that Prinsloo recorded one of the videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with a child.
“This is a factor which goes beyond any mitigating factors presented by the accused, as this court for the first time has been presented with a child porn video where the accused himself is the perpetrator,” she said.
A Department of Correctional Services report stated that Prinsloo was convicted of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the Berea area in 2005. He allegedly drugged and sexually abused her, and was sentenced to a R2 000 fine or 3 months’ imprisonment for that crime.
In 2013, Prinsloo was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old relative. He was out on parole and fled to Cape Town where he sexually groomed three girls between the ages of 8 and 11. He will appear in a Cape Town court for those crimes.