Pretoria father guilty of sexually abusing his two children

A 38-year-old Carletonville father, who made a video while indecently assaulting his four-year-old daughter and took pornographic photos of his three-year-old son, has been convicted on eight charges.

Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay found the father guilty of indecently assaulting his daughter at their home in 2006, and of producing, possessing and importing child pornography.

The man admitted to indecently assaulting his daughter and making a video of the abuse, but denied that the photos he took of his son amounted to child pornography.

Some of the photos were of his son in the bath, but one of them explicitly depicted the little boy’s private parts, although it did not show his face, which the judge said constituted child pornography.

The man said in his plea explanation he was emotionally upset after his first wife’s death and was watching a pornographic video when his little daughter came into the room.

He was already aroused, exposed himself to the child and then encouraged her to put his penis in her mouth.

He recorded the incident on his cellphone, downloaded it on his laptop and made backups on a CD. He later took photos of his daughter while she was undressing, with the last photo showing her lying on the bed with her private parts exposed.

He admitted to knowing it was wrong, that it could cause untold damage to his daughter and said he was sorry.

He admitted to searching the internet for teen pornography and downloading over 19 500 images. But he insisted the state could not prove they depicted children.

Tolmay said at least 10 of the images were obviously of very young persons.

His estranged wife handed notes she found in their house to the police in which he, among others, attempted to describe an incest scene in a video where the victim was seven years old.

He claimed the notes were inadmissible because it violated his privacy, but Tolmay said his right to privacy could not trump the rights of children to be protected against abuse, depravity and exploitation.

She said one could clearly see on the video that he insisted on his reluctant daughter complying with his wishes. This deprived and sick action may not have been physically violent, but was clearly intended to violate and abuse the child, she added. The father will be sentenced next month. – ilsadl@citizen.co.za

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