Durban – A Verulam man who is on trial for a slew of criminal charges in the Durban High Court after he allegedly trafficked, raped and kept his step-daughter as a sex slave, yesterday denied owning the sex toys found at the scene and the cellphone he allegedly used to make and distribute child pornography.
His step-daughter, who is now 13, also testified in camera yesterday after Judge Mohini Moodley granted an order to allow her to give evidence with the assistance of a court intermediary and via a CCTV camera link-up.
The 45-year-old-man has pleaded not guilty to the 56 charges against him that include rape, human trafficking, child abuse, sexual exploitation of children, possession of child pornography, sexual grooming of children and creating and distributing child pornography.
His advocate, Thiagaraj Pillay, told the court he did not own the Huawei phone allegedly found the night he was arrested. He was arrested on June 11.
Senior State advocate Cheryl Naidu earlier told the court how the accused had obtained custody of the girl after her mother died in 2014 to allegedly use her to achieve his “nefarious intentions”.
According to the 66-page indictment, the man allegedly took photographs and filmed the girl and disseminated the images via his Huawei cellphone.
She said the phone had been sent to the SAPS Cybercrime Unit in Pretoria which had downloaded evidence that would be used during the trial.
Pillay, in cross-examining the first witness – a neighbour who allegedly recovered the Huawei cellphone at the scene of the arrest – told the court repeatedly the accused denied owning the phone.
Pillay said the man owned a Samsung Galaxy Light and a Samsung watch which he had lost that night, and that the Huawei belonged to his step-daughter.
However, the neighbour, who also worked with the man, steadfastly claimed this was not true and the man owned the Huawei. “(The man) always had that phone with him. He used to go to work with the phone. It was the only phone he had,” he said.
Pillay said the accused also denied owning the sex toys, an adult movie, condoms and lubricants that were scattered around him when he was arrested outside his house.
He said the lingerie had belonged to his girlfriend. The neighbour said he had not known the man to have a girlfriend.
The trial continues.
The Mercury