How the US has helped to crack down on child porn in SA

An intelligence-driven operation by the specialised unit of the South African Police Service (Saps) and the United States’ department of homeland security has smashed what is believed to be yet another international child pornography ring, with tentacles in Gauteng.

The four-day operation, codenamed “Moonlight”, was conducted last week, leading to the arrest of five suspects – among them a daycare centre owner, convicted rapist and married father of three – believed to be part of an international child pornography syndicate.

Dozens of personal computers, hard drives, flash drives, tablets and cellphones with explicit child abuse material were seized during the raid by Saps’ Serial and Electronic Investigation (SECI), a specialised unit within the family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) division.

The US is battling the child pornography scourge, with the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), estimating that America had the largest share of commercialised child pornography websites with close to 50% of the global volume.

The ASACP educates members, the online adult industry, government policymakers and the public about child protection, illegal online activities and the efforts of the online adult industry to battle child sexual abuse.

International syndicate networks use complex and concealed electronic communication and sites to distribute pornography for profit, or noncommercial material traded among offenders, with SA increasingly becoming a key player in the dark industry.

In August 2013, international child pornography investigators uncovered a massive international child-pornography ring, with links to South Africa. Raids carried out in Canada in June and July 2013 led investigators to South Africa and led to the arrest of six people in an investigation that traced activities in physical, postal and e-mail addresses from encrypted computers.

In August 2016, a Free State man was convicted on 933 charges of rape‚ sexual assault‚ possession of child pornography‚ distribution of child pornography and manufacturing of child pornography. Two of the victims were his own daughters.

The man was first arrested in 2014 after Canadian police managed to trace the IP address of someone sharing sexually explicit images of minors with other overseas-based paedophiles to South Africa. The South African link to international child pornography rings have drawn the attention of the US authorities, with the US department of homeland security increasingly working with the Saps to smoke out child pornography syndicate members.

Colonel Brenda Muridili said the latest operation was conducted by members from the national and Gauteng SECI, who assisted with their expertise in crime scene forensic analysis, the national crime intelligence cybercrime unit and the Gauteng forensic social work services.

She said the team was acting on intelligence from their cybercrime unit, with the subsequent raids at various properties resulting in the arrest of the suspects aged between 30 and 62, for possession of explicit images and videos of child abuse.

The first arrest, of a 30-year-old man living with his parents, was made in Rietfontein, Pretoria, last Monday and the second suspect, a 42-year-old married father of three, was also arrested the same day in Claremont, also in Pretoria.

The next day, police pounced on a 62-year-old married pensioner who owned a daycare centre managed by his wife, with the fourth suspect, aged 42, arrested on Thursday in Daspoort, also in Pretoria, where he lived with his parents. The fifth man, a 34-year-old with a previous rape and assault conviction, was arrested in Kempton Park in Ekurhuleni.

“He has a previous conviction of rape and sexual assault for which he received a five-year suspended sentence that will end on 15 March 2020,” Muridili said.

She said another search warrant was executed in Garsfontein, Pretoria, but the suspect was not arrested as no material was found on his premises. However, electronic equipment was seized for further investigation.

“The suspect has a pending 2012 case of possession of child pornography and bestiality due for judgment on 20 April 2020,” she said. Muridili said the suspects had already appeared in court and were out on R5,000 bail each.

Astronomic figures from CyberTipline, the tip-off line run by the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, a US nonprofit organisation, demonstrates why US authorities are collaborating with SA to clamp down on child sex pests.

The organisation helps to find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimisation and runs a tip-off line to report suspected child porn activities. CyberTipline is the nation’s centralised reporting system for the online exploitation of children where the public and electronic service providers can report suspected online sexual exploitation of children, including enticement of children for sexual acts, child pornography and child sex tourism.

• In 2019, the CyberTipline received 16.9 million reports of suspected child porn.
• Of these, 150 667 reports were from the general public.
• 16,836,694 were from electronic service providers.

– siphom@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.