Plett man in court for horrific porn images involving babies

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

A 37-year-old computer engineer from Plettenberg Bay appeared in the local Magistrate's Court after his arrest on Tuesday for allegedly circulating horrifying images and videos of babies being abducted, tortured and raped.

During his first court appearance on Wednesday the man, who cannot be named until he has pleaded, indicated that he wanted to plead, but the case was postponed until April 22 for further investigation.

His arrest follows cooperation between South African and Belgium police after the arrest of a suspected paedophile in Belgium in October. Members of the Antwerp police child and sexual exploitation unit used the suspect's profile to track down the Plettenberg Bay man who allegedly visited a cyber meeting space for paedophiles whose fetishes seem to be the abuse of babies.

In what is known as Operation Cloud 9, Gauteng family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit and their Belgium counterparts swooped on the local suspect's Plettenberg Bay where they found him asleep in his bedroom. He was arrested and his laptop was confiscated.

Gauteng FCS unit commander Lieutenant-Colonel Heila Niemand confirmed the seizure and said police managed to find sections of files allegedly containing images and videos of violent assaults as well as internet addresses of more than 300 alleged paedophiles.

She added that some of the images had been taken as recently as this week which suggested that there could be babies being abused "right now".
Police are currently trying to establish the identity of the perpetrators and the children.

Yolande Stander Garden Route Media