Biggest child porn bust in SA

2001-11-09 22:18

Sarie van Niekerk

Brakpan - An astonishing chain of events has led to the discovery of the biggest collection of child pornography in the East Rand and the subsequent arrest of a 51-year-old East Rand hospital archive clerk who has been evading police for some time.

The suspect must regret offering temporary shelter to an 18-year-old boy, whose relatives forgot to pick him up from hospital. The man was arrested on Thursday after the boy became suspicious about his host's hospitality.

According to Captain Flip van den Berg, Head of the East Rand Child Protection Unit, the boy became suspicious when the clerk showed him child pornography on his computer upon arriving at his house.

The flat was also littered with pornographic magazines and videos.

The man wrote a letter of introduction for the boy to "raise funds" to visit his sick mother and make sure she is taken care of. The letter was signed "Captain de Jager from Brakpan", Van den Berg says.

"A person who was approached by the boy armed with his "credentials" phoned the police, upon which the boy took us to the suspect's place of residence.

Plaster casts of boys' genitals

"There we made a shocking discovery. I have never seen so much child pornography in one place - books, pictures, videos and everything one can think of.

"Even the screen saver on his computer was the pornographic image of a child," Van den Berg said.

Plaster casts of boys' genitals as well as an extensive database on children, which he presumably obtained at the hospital, were also found.

Police confiscated the man's computer and a large number of pornographic films he allegedly showed to children. Experts at the forensic laboratory in Pretoria will scrutinise the computer.

Police also found illegal hospital records and blank prescription forms. Police are trying to ascertain whether the man supplied children with sick notes when they were absent from school.

The suspect is in custody and will appear in court on Monday.

- Beeld