JOHANNESBURG – A suspected paedophile – working as a maintenance manager at luxury private game reserves and hotels in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga – allegedly used his “adopted” son to lure teenage boys for sale to sex tourists. The Times can reveal that, in the latest child-porn scandal to hit this country, a 59-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly manufacturing and possessing child pornography.
The latest revelation came to light as Childline highlighted a “very serious problem” relating to the increase in child exploitation related to tourism.
The suspect, who cannot be named until he has pleaded, was released on R50000 bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last week. His arrest in June had been kept under wraps by the police, amid fears for the safety of the children involved.
Only three weeks ago six suspects, including headmasters, a teacher and a lawyer, were arrested for their alleged involvement in an international online child pornography ring.
In the most recent case, the suspect, a manager at an upmarket Durban beachfront hotel at the time of his arrest, was caught at his Bluff home.
He was arrested after a neighbour, who shares a wi-fi network with him, alerted the police when she found what she regarded as child pornography on shared computer files.
The police – who cannot say if the man is linked to the international child pornography syndicate – believe his arrest might expose one of the country’s largest child-sex rings.
Thousands of photographs and negatives, some apparently dating back to the 1970s, were seized in the raid on the accused’s home.
A 21-year-old man, said to have been “adopted” by the suspect when he was an eight-year-old, is believed to have been used by the arrested man to recruit children for pornography.
The negatives allegedly contain images of teenage boys, including the man now 21, being abused.
Along with photographs and negatives, detectives seized computers equipped with powerful encrypting software.
The photographs, according to police sources, were shot in both rural and urban areas. A number are believed to have been taken at well-known game farms and hotels – some geared to international tourism – in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The police have seized two computers, a laptop computer and a cellphone.
