A man who posed as a teenager to lure underage girls to a chat group where child pornography was distributed and shared, is among three Child Online Sexual predators arrested in a joint operation by the SAPS Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) unit.
The USA Department of Homeland Security was also involved in the arrest in the past week.
This brings total the number of Child Online Sexual Predators that have been arrested since November to seven. The other four were arrested in November last year. Three were arrested in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal.
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These arrests form part of an international operation to trace manufacturers, users, and distributors of child pornography. The three suspects were arrested in Worcester, Kraaifontein, and Mitchell’s Plain.
A 53-year-old man from Worcester was the first to be arrested on Wednesday, 17 January 2024. He has so far been found with 95,000 images and 6,000 videos of child pornography. He faces a charge of accessing, distributing, and possessing child pornography.
The second suspect, a 40-year-old man was arrested in Kraaifontein on Thursday. In his possession, he was found with more than 149,000 pictures of child pornography as well as more than 5,000 videos.
He was found in possession of two unlicensed firearms and various caliber of ammunition, as well as nine snakes of which three did not have a permit. He is facing charges of possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, and possession, distribution, and access of child pornography.
A 32-year-old man from Mitchell’s Plan was the third suspect to be arrested on Friday. He was found to be chatting and luring underage girls into a chat group where nude pictures were exchanged.
All suspects appeared before various courts such as Worcester, Kraaifontein, and Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court where their cases were postponed for further investigation.
This operation would not have been successful without the following role players, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of WC, NPA, Cape Nature, and SPCA.
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