By Everson Luhanga
Seven suspects have been arrested for child pornography in the space of three months.
One arrested man posed as a teenager on social media in Worcester, Kraaifontein and Mitchell’s Plain in the Western Cape.
He posed as a teenager to attract underage girls.
The 53-year-old man from Worcester was the first to be arrested last Wednesday. He has so far been found with 95,000 pornographic images and 6,000 videos. He faces a charge of accessing, distributing and possessing child pornography.
The second suspect, a 40-year-old man was arrested in Kraaifontein last Thursday with more than 149,000 pictures and 5,000 videos.
He was also found in possession of two unlicensed firearms and ammunition, as well as nine snakes, three of which he did not have permits for. He is facing charges of possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, and possession, distribution and access to child pornography.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed the arrest.
Brigadier Mathe said: “A man who posed as a teenager to lure underage girls to a chat group where child pornography was distributed and shared is amongst three child online sexual predators that have been arrested in a joint operation by the SAPS Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) unit and the USA Department of Homelands Security in the past week.
“This brings to total the number of child online sexual predators that have been arrested since November to seven. The other four were arrested in November last year. Three were arrested in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal.”
She said these arrests form part of an international operation to trace manufacturers, users, and distributors of child pornography.
The three suspects were arrested in Worcester, Kraaifontein, and Mitchell’s Plain.
A 32-year-old man from Mitchell’s Plan was the third suspect arrested on Friday, 19 January 2024. He was found to be chatting and luring underage girls into chat groups where nude pictures were exchanged.
“All suspects appeared before various courts such as Worcester, Kraaifontein and Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court where their cases were postponed for further investigation,” said Brigadier Mathe.
Pictured above: 53-year-old suspect being arrested on Wednesday.
Image source: Supplied
