Sex tourist buys his way out

2005-11-28 23:22

Johannesburg - A Swiss attorney and "sex tourist", who had sex with a 16-year-old boy from Alexandra in a Sandton hotel room, left the country last week on Monday after reaching a plea-bargain with the State.

Corporate lawyer Peter Zimmerman, 64, was charged with indecent assault.

He was caught in the act with the boy in a Sandton hotel room on October 9.

Pornographic material, a laptop computer and cellphone were confiscated.

Hannelie Banks, managing prosecutor at Wynberg magistrate's court in Alexandra, said Zimmerman had reached a plea-bargain with the State on Monday, last week.

He was fined R10 000 and sentenced to one year's imprisonment, which was suspended for five years.

Banks said Zimmerman had to leave the country immediately after the hearing last Monday.

'A danger the world over'

Joan van Niekerk, spokesperson for Childline South Africa, said such a plea-bargain with a sexual offender was a disappointment, because it neither punished the offender, nor helped the victim.

"He will probably just go to another country where he will perpetrate the same crime.

"Such an offender is a danger to children the world over," she said.

"These children are usually poor and are paid to take part in such sexual acts.

"The criminal's record won't necessarily follow him, because he was not apprehended for the crime in his own country, and probably doesn't have a criminal record there.

By late on Monday it was still not clear whether the conditions of the plea-bargain would allow Zimmerman to return to South Africa.

- Beeld