CT security guard in child porn case gets bail
A security guard who had been in custody for eight days for alleged possession of child pornography, was granted bail when he made his second court appearance in a Cape Town court on Thursday.
The 34-year-old man, who may not be named until his trial, appeared in the Bellville District Court before magistrate Cyril Kroutz, who fixed bail at R3000.
He was warned to appear in court again on February 25.
The only bail condition was that he had to move from his Parow home, where he allegedly made child pornography, to an address in nearby Ravensmead.
The prosecutor alleged that he had a rape case pending at the Cape Town District Court, but he denied this.
He was warned that he would be taken into custody, and his bail revoked, if he breached the bail condition.
At his first appearance on November 5, he was remanded for a week while the prosecuting authorities checked his background, and verified the address in Ravensmead.
The man is likely to go on trial in the specialised sexual offences court in Parow, before magistrate Mandy van Leeft.
He is charged with the creation, possession and distribution of child pornography, framed in terms of both the Sexual Offences Act as well as the Films and Publications Control Act.
National police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said at the time of his arrest that there had been a combined police operation between the provincial investigation unit of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, on the one hand, and the United States Homeland Security, on the other.
He said the arrest had followed an inquiry received in South Africa, from Interpol, In January.
He said further investigations pointed the family violence unit to the suspect in Cape Town.
The unit focuses on the sexual exploitation of children.
Naidoo said the suspect’s home in Parow was searched during the arrest, and police confiscated one computer tablet, a video player, two USBs, a USB video adapter, three cellphones, a PC hard drive, an SD and micro SD cards and hundreds of CDs.
Naidoo said the close working relationship that the FCS had established with law enforcement agencies internationally, had resulted in the arrest of child pornography offenders throughout the country.
Further arrests could be expected, he said.
ANA
File photo: Gallo Images