PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The Plettenberg Bay man accused of links to an international child pornography ring – involving the distribution of images of babies being raped and tortured – is facing possession charges relating to more than 50 0000 images.
The large number of images took centre stage on Monday, September 19, when the 38-year-old computer engineer, who cannot be named until he has pleaded, appeared in the Knysna Regional Court for what was scheduled to be plea and sentencing proceedings.
The case also caused a widespread public outcry, including from several anti-child abuse groups who attended proceedings.
During his time in the dock on Monday, the court heard that the man’s plea bargain had been rejected by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and that the matter could not proceed due to issues involving different versions of the charge sheet.
While discussing these issues it came to light for the first time since his arrest on January 13, 2015 that the man was initially accused of the possession of child pornography relating to more than triple the amount of images to that stated in the latest charge sheet.
The man’s lawyer Carl Jeppe explained that initially the charges related to more than 179 000 images, but that he had objected to this. He further said the number of images were later “whittled” down and the charge sheet was subsequently amended to include charges relating to only about 51 000 images.
Jeppe informed the court that he had submitted his client’s plea bargain based on the amended version of the charge sheet several weeks ago, but that he only received feedback from the DPP on Thursday, September 15 informing him that the submission had been rejected.
He further said that despite the decision, his client had still been ready to plead yesterday, but that he had become aware of issues with different versions of the charge sheet.
Jeppe said he remained unsure of the reasons for the objection and if it was based on the fact that the plea bargain was formed on the amended version and not the original.
State prosecutor JJ Marx suffered a back injury that prevented him from attending proceedings this week, and his stand-in Chamelle Bastian could not provide clarity either.
She said that neither she nor Marx had even been informed about the plea bargain rejection.
The matter was therefore postponed to October 17 for the prosecution to obtain further instruction from the DPP.
The delay sparked massive outcry especially among the anti-child abuse activists who sat in the gallery.
“It seemed to once again be a huge circus at court with no one really knowing what is going on. This begs the question about when is South Africa ever going to take child abuse cases seriously – especially this one where there are images of babies as young as one day being raped and tortured involved. We can’t understand why these cases are being drawn out with postponement after postponement,” anti-child abuse group Green Hearts spokesperson Yvette Wilschut said.
Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) spokesperson Joanne Barrett labelled the delay as a “travesty” of justice and criticised the role the DPP had played in the postponement.
“Plea negotiations started nine months ago. We find this totally despicable that we attend court for the day with one postponement after another. Taxpayers’ money is of no concern, it seems,” Barrett said.
She further said it was especially tragic knowing the large number of images involved.
The suspect was the first South African to have been arrested as part of Cloud 9 – an operation between South African and Belgian police who were responsible for cracking down on a child pornography ring linked to a cyber meeting space for paedophiles whose fetishes seem to be the sexual abuse of babies.
The Plett local was arrested on January 13 last year when international police raided his seaside home and allegedly found sections of files containing hundreds of images and videos of violent assaults as well as internet addresses of more than 300 other alleged paedophiles.
Since his arrest, several other alleged suspects linked to the same network have been arrested in South African and the rest of the world.
Click here for previous articles:
- 'Baby porn' case?: Plea bargain rejected
- 'Baby porn' case: Plea expected
- Baby porn case postponed again
- Plett 'porn case' postponed again
- 'Child porn' case moving to an end
- Plett 'child porn' case going to trial
- Delays in child porn accused case exasperate
- Child porn case postponed
- Plett child porn case update
- Update: Plett child porn case
- Child porn offender allowed to leave
- More delays in child-sex crime cases
- Update: Plett child porn case
- Bail bid of child porn accused today
- Porn accused fails to appear in court
- Plett paedophile cases pending
- Cyber crime unit praised
- Plett child porn case postponed
- Concerns after leniency for child porn producer
- Plett child porn case back in court
- Child porn investigation complete
- Alleged paedophile linked to international porn ring
ARTICLE AND PHOTO: YOLANDé STANDER, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD CORRESPONDENT
'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'
