The case against a couple who are accused of being part of a syndicate that distributed images of babies being abused has been postponed in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court.
The 33 year-old man and 22 year-old woman from Westering, appeared in court on Friday and are alleged to be part of an international child pornography ring that distributed footage of the torture, rape and murder of babies and newborns.
The 33-year old man told AlgoaFM News that the media were blowing the case out of proportion and did not know the full story.
He said people were judging him.
The Commander of the Gauteng-based Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, Heila Niemand, made a special trip to Port Elizabeth for Friday's court proceedings.
She said that after the arrest of the PE couple, 81 other leads were being followed internationally.
"There was already 6 arrests in Belgium, 3 arrests in the US. That was leads that came out directly out of the arrests made in Port Elizabeth. It just shows you that by one arrest made in South Africa that we actually ensure that several victims that will be safe now and targets or suspects will be brought to justice." said Niemand.
The Port Elizabeth case has been postponed to the 2nd of July for further investigation and the couple are out on bail.
Meanwhile, Women And Men Against Child Abuse members, who were at the court appearance of the Westering couple, say they'll also be at the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court next Tuesday when an alleged child porn kingpin - or web administrator appears on a string of charges.
The organisation's Germaine Vogel says the 53 year-old Grahamstown guest house owner is facing charges of possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography and extradition to the United States where sentencing is much tougher than it is in South Africa.
The Grahamstown businessman was arrested earlier this year in a joint raid by police and the FBI in the US.
Vogel says he allegedly pretended to be a teenage girl, conning hundreds of child victims into performing sexual acts on themselves, which he recorded then streamed over the internet.
"Our stance outside court next week is that we want our government to take these cases very seriously. we want to see proper sentences prescribed in our law especially for viewing,possession and distribution. We believe if you download images of children being raped, you have blood on your hands, you are responsible for increasing this market and demand. We believe anyone who engages in any images of child and sexual abuse of children must be punished with maximum sentences." says Vogel.
Members from Women and Men Against Child Abuse outside the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's court on Friday.
