A man who has been diagnosed with a paedophilic disorder will spend eight years behind bars after his appeal against his sentence was denied in a High Court in the Western Cape.
Clinton Calder, 55, was sentenced in the Wynberg Regional Court in 2021, after he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Eric Ntabazalila says Calder was arrested after a Belgian Chief Inspector, assigned to investigate online sites discussing child abuse, or luring children, led him to Calder's location.
He says Calder operated online, under the pseudonym on the Gigatribe platform.
He was convicted on 3 195 counts of possession of child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography, one count of importation of pornography and 19 counts of creating child porn.
Calder appealed his sentence arguing that his conduct was a mere moment of madness as he had been doing crazy things, sought psychological treatment and was suffering from depression.
The NPA's Ntabazalila says he further argued that he had a clean criminal record and due to his medical condition and sexual affliction, a non custodial sentence would be better so that he can get the psychological treatment he requires.
Calder also complained about the excessive smoking habits of prisoners, stating that the magistrate failed to consider this during sentencing.
Ntabazalila says an experienced nurse working at the hospital section of Pollsmoor Prison testified that other prisoners with similar medical conditions were successfully treated.
The Judges agreed.
