CT security guard in child pornography case, to remain in custody
A security guard, arrested on Tuesday for possession of child pornography, is to remain in custody for a week whilst the prosecuting authorities check his background.
The man (34) who may not be named until his trial starts, made his first appearance in court on Thursday.
He appeared in the Bellville District Court, before magistrate Cyril Kroutz, who remanded the case to November 12, when he is expected to launch a bail application.
The prosecutor, Stefan Venter, told the court that the State would oppose the man’s release on bail.
His mother, and other female members of his family, attended the proceedings, as did a group of four women police officials from Gauteng, who are involved in the investigation.
The charge sheet gave the man’s address as Smit Street, Parow, in Cape Town’s northern suburbs.
While the bail hearing will be before magistrate Kroutz, the man is likely to go on trial in the specialised sexual offences court in Parow.
The case was called late on Thursday morning, and the man, dressed in beige trousers and a yellow T-shirt, was brought from the holding cells at the court building.
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 the suspect was arrested during a joint operation between the provincial investigation unit of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), on the one hand, and the United States Homeland Security, on the other.
He said the arrest followed an inquiry received in South Africa, from Interpol, in January.
He said further investigations pointed the FCS to the suspect in Cape Town.
The FCS focuses on the sexual exploitation of children.
Naidoo said the suspect’s home in Parow was searched during the arrest, and police confiscated one tablet, a video player, two USBs, a USB video adapter, three cell phones, a PC hard drive, an SD, a micro SD and hundreds of CDs.
The brigadier 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