CT man facing various charges relating to child pornography denied bail
He was arrested in January, after police received a tip-off from the United States Department of Homeland Security that reported he was part of an international child porn syndicate.
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CAPE TOWN - A Cape Town man facing charges of the illegal possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography, as well as child grooming, has been denied bail.
The Mitchells Plain Magistrates Court found that the 32-year-old's own two children needed to be protected from him.
He was arrested in January, after police received a tip-off from the United States Department of Homeland Security that reported he was part of an international child porn syndicate.
It was found he had accessed illicit material on a social media platform and had collected over a 115,000 images, as well as more than 20,000 videos of child pornography since April 2021.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)'s Eric Ntabazalila: "The court also declared that his release will send a sense of shock and jeopardise and undermine the criminal justice system, put the victims’ lives in danger, the public will lose trust in the justice system. The court also concluded that he has failed to show exceptional circumstances existed which justify his release on bail and that it was in the interest of justice for him to be released on bail. His case was postponed to 27 June 2024 for further investigation."
The operation identified 27 similar suspects in South Africa, of which four were in the Western Cape, and they've all been arrested.