Masechaba Sefularo
Sex-ring kingpin Gerhard Ackerman has been found guilty of more than 700 charges related to the unlawful distribution of child pornography, benefitting from the sexual exploitation of a child, sexual grooming, rape and attempted kidnapping.
The judgment in the case against Ackerman was delivered by Judge Ishmail Mahomed in the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.
The 52-year-old pleaded not guilty to the multitude of charges against him, despite being found in possession of hundreds of images and videos depicting sexual acts on minors.
He admitted to running a massage parlour where teenage boys were expected to engage in sexual acts with adult men in what the accused previously described as “happy endings”.
Ackerman kept shaking his head in the high court in Johannesburg as Mohammed read out the judgment.
Mahomed said Ackerman targeted children from troubled homes.
"The accused worked with others to lure these children by approaching them on Facebook to recruit them to the massage business, in doing so the children were harboured at the accused's place of residence to perform these sexual acts on his clients for payments. The proceeds received by the boys were shared with him. All the clients for these sexual acts were performed were the accused's clients which he arranged.
“The accused, when he testified, remarked that the boys were over the age of 16 and that they participated voluntarily. This is a disingenuous argument because he targeted these children and he [exploited] their vulnerabilities. Most of these children came from poor backgrounds, and one or two of them had personal issues and thoughts of suicide.
“The accused took advantage of their emotional state by offering them a place to stay and money," said Mahomed.
Following the judgment, Ackerman's lawyer Herman Alberts requested a postponement to acquire a psychologist report for sentencing purposes.
However, Judge Mahomed said he doesn't see how anyone can assist Ackerman in mitigation of the sentence when he has already pleaded his innocence to the entire world.
"Let's assume the expert you call says well, the accused is a fallen angel. How is that going to help?
“In light of what the accused himself has testified here, saying he did nothing wrong?”
The state finally agreed to the request.
The case has been postponed to 18 July for sentencing.
Ackerman's co-accused, advocate Paul Kennedy- took his own life while out on bail.
