Before founding his own companies, Willem Breytenbach headed the digital division of Media24 magazines. He also headed the Media24 weekly magazines division. Image: Facebook
Alleged sex offender Willem Breytenbach has been arrested at his psychologist’s practice in Hartenbos, close to Mossel Bay on Tuesday.
The accused sex offender was arrested by the Western Cape Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit after three cases were opened against him, News24 reported.
Breytenbach is accused of sexually molesting several schoolboys from at least three schools from 1989 to 1994.
Deon Wiggett, a copywriter, published the first episode of My Only Story, a four-episode podcast in which he reveals how Breytenbach allegedly raped him and sexually abused other schoolboys in the 1990s.
Breytenbach, a former journalist and magazine executive at Media24, closed his digital marketing agency, Lightspeed Digital Media, switched off his cellphone and deleted his social media profiles days after the first podcast was aired.
He reportedly left for Reebok, a small beach-side town close to Mossel Bay, where his mother, who is ill, lives.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel André Traut confirmed the police were investigating Breytenbach after Wiggett opened a criminal case against him.
According to police sources, investigating officer Warrant Officer Rowan Andrews had been inundated with more names of alleged victims after Breytenbach’s name was revealed by News24.
Seven more men have contacted the police with their accounts of how Breytenbach allegedly groomed them as teenagers. Wiggett told News24 that apart from him and two men who gave statements to News24’s lawyers, 13 more came forward with allegations against Breytenbach.
Breytenbach had attempted suicide on November 15, on a beach near Mossel Bay. He had taken a mixture of sleeping tablets and alcohol and was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
He has been taken to the Mossel Bay police station to be processed. He will then be transported to Cape Town where he will be held at the Cape Town Central police station. He is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on a charge of sexual assault on Thursday.
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