Barberton porn parents won’t go to jail
"This court is torn," said the magistrate while considering their sentences.
MBOMBELA –MBOMBELA – A husband and wife who used their eight-year-old daughter to produce child pornography will not go to jail. The Nelspruit Sexual Offence Court passed the sentence yesterday.
The couple, aged 37 and 40, formerly resided in Barberton. They were arrested in 2013 when a Cash Converters assistant discovered child pornography on a cellphone they pawned.
Their daughter posed on two videos and 147 photos, flashing her genitals in some.
Magistrate Venessa Joubert recounted the repeated trauma the child has experienced since the arrest.
She labelled the parents as wolves in sheep’s clothing for exploiting their child rather than protecting her.
“Upon your arrest it was your daughter who cried, begging the police not to arrest you. She had to be removed from your care, which traumatised her greatly, before her grandmother was appointed her guardian,” said Joubert.
According to reports by the departments of social development and correctional services, the husband and wife have turned their lives around.
“They have moved to Welkom and started a new life as born-again Christians,” said defence attorney Jaicé Terblanche.
“They are involved in church, care for the ill, sing in the church choir and one is a Sunday school teacher,” he added.
In August the couple pleaded guilty and she found them guilty of facilitating, creating and possessing child pornography, grooming their daughter sexually and other charges, amounting to the sexual exploitation of a minor.
Despite the evidence of the couple’s remorse and willingness to rehabilitate, Joubert called their acts disgusting and selfish. “Our community is entitled to demand that perpetrators be punished,” she said and added “this court is torn”.
Joubert noted that she had to take into account the interests of the child. According to the departmental and other reports, the child could not handle being separated from her family.
Joubert sentenced the parents to eight years in prison, suspended for five years, as well as three years’ correctional supervision. Both were also sentenced to community service and rehabilitation programmes.
The couple may not work with children and their names will be placed on the Sex Offender’s List. Their daughter remains in her grandmother’s care.
