Suspected child molester to face rape charges at Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court
The victims's statement was taken on Monday after the allegations of sexual assault and molestation had been made.
MBOMBELA – A 36-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday by the Nelspruit police’s family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit (FCS).
The arrest came after a nine-year-old minor reported to her mother that the suspect had touched her inappropriately on a number of occasions and attempted to penetrate her, according to Capt Adriaan Odendaal of the FCS.
The victims’s statement was taken on Monday after the allegations of sexual assault and molestation had been made.
The man is employed as a reaction officer at a prominent Lowveld security firm.
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“The suspect, who was a friend of the victim’s mother, was arrested on Tuesday and his phone was confiscated and handed to the cyber-crime unit,” said Odendaal.
He added that the cellphone had revealed hidden and deleted files.
Odendaal said the victim had claimed that this was not the first time the suspect had touched her inappropriately and that he had taken graphic photographs of her before.
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“On Wednesday I was contacted by the cyber-crime unit that informed me that the cellphone was loaded with child pornography, which included photographs of underaged victims.
“This revelation adds possession of child pornography and creating child pornography to the two charges of rape and sexual assault he will be facing.”
Odendaal said he feared that there may be a second victim, as the nine-year-old has a 12-year-old sister who is visiting with family during this period.
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“As soon as she returns after the lockdown, the FCS unit will interview her to establish whether she had also been sexually assaulted by the suspect.”
Investigations into the case are continuing and the suspect will appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court next Wednesday for a bail application hearing.
