Harsher punishments coming for child pornographers, and those who protect them

While the five Gauteng men who were last week arrested on child pornography related charges await their next court appearance, the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) is busy finalising a new draft bill which could, in effect, completely overhaul the laws under which these men stand accused and empower the courts to slap offenders with harsher sentences as well as bar them from surfing the web.

The process could take several years and when – or if – the bill is passed, the men who were arrested last week will likely be done with their court case.

Once it has been approved by a full sitting of the commission, the bill will be sent to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services for his consideration. It will then have to be approved by Cabinet before it can be submitted to Parliament.

But it could still go a long way towards securing justice for future victims and towards protecting future generations.

The commission, which is chaired by High Court Judge Jody Kollapen, was tasked with looking into the current law and identifying any gaps in how it protects children from being used in child pornography – as well as considering the need for law reform – as part of an overarching investigation into the review of all sexual offences.

Early last year, it put out a discussion paper, along with the draft bill, for public comment.

As per that version of the bill – which, it is understood, will undergo some minor changes before being submitted for approval – the commission has made a number of recommendations, including that the courts be empowered to mete out lengthy jail terms for offenders.

“The granting of a number of lenient sentences by courts in South Africa for offences relating to child sexual abuse material is concerning,” it said in the discussion paper.

In a bid to remedy this, the commission proposed 15-year-sentences for offenders found guilty of making, accessing or possessing child pornography; or of attending or taking part in a live performance involving child pornography; or of promoting child pornography.

It also proposed that a range of different orders be made available to the courts, to make against offenders – including orders banning them from accessing the internet or limiting their access.

And if the bill were to go ahead, in its current form at least, it would not just criminalise perpetrators: Anyone who knew about the commission of a child pornography-related offense would be obligated to report it – including electronic communication service providers and financial institutions whose systems or facilities were being used.

Luke Lamprecht is the advocacy manager for Women and Men Against Child Abuse and he said this week that “there is always a victim” in child pornography related crimes.

“The idea that because it’s taking place behind a screen, it’s a lesser crime, is ludicrous,” he said.

He said those who accessed child pornography were “participating in either the rape of a child or the sexual assault of a child” and that the sentences they were subject to should reflect this.

“We need to make it clear to them that they are complicit in these crimes,” he said.

Lamprecht also said that in order for sex abuse to occur, offenders had to have a motive to abuse, then they had to overcome internal inhibitors and, finally, they had to overcome external inhibitors.

And the threat of serious repercussions was “a massive external inhibitor,” he added.

“The aim of increasing sentences is to impose an additional to them being to access children without any consequences,” Lamprecht said.

The SALRC said this week that a revised draft bill was currently being considered by an advisory committee of experts and they were expected to meet yesterday to work on it.

It said it planned on submitting the bill for approval in the second quarter of this year.

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