Mr Anthony Boucher (private investigator at SA Investigations based in Middelburg) said that he was tasked with tracking down a Facebook account belonging to a Pretoria man who went on a verbal rant on the social media platform.

“His victim of choice was a beautiful baby girl that was born with Down syndrome,” Mr Boucher said.

According to Mr Boucher, they were contacted by the girl’s mother yesterday morning. She stated that problems arose after a man was being mean to her friend on Facebook and she decided to weigh in and defend her friend against the man, who was allegedly using vulgar language.

Also read: Cyber bullying and teen girls: Know the dangers

She told him to mind his language and respect women. It was at this point that the man turned his sights on her and her daughter, who is visible with her in her profile picture.

The man allegedly saved the profile picture to his device and uploaded it in the comment section with a laughing emoji. The mother immediately asked him to remove the picture from the public group, as her daughter is a minor and a special needs child, and he had no right to bring her into the conversation.

Instead of doing so, the man went on to claim the child was ‘deformed’ because the mother was on drugs. He also made fun of the child’s appearance and even accused the mother of using someone else’s child to scam people.

“He referred to the child as a ‘malkoppie’, called the mother a ‘bitch’ and told the mother to change the way she and her husband engage intimately, as that may teach her some respect. When the father of the child tried to defend his wife’s honour, the man told him that he was glad his own father had decent sperm, otherwise, he would have looked like the child in question.”

Mr Boucher said that the mother was very upset when she spoke to him and said that she could handle the attack on her, “but why did he have to bring her special needs child into the conversation, and why insult her?”

“She asked us for help in locating the individual involved because herself and her husband felt very strongly about the matter and didn’t want to leave it be.”

SA Investigations tracked the man down and assisted the family in laying formal charges against the man with the police.

“The family is also going to pursue this matter in civil court, and they will do whatever it takes to make this person, and others, think twice before engaging in such acts of verbal abuse on social media. It should never be allowed to happen to anyone, especially a child,” Mr Boucher said.

SA Investigations warned the public against engaging in such behaviour on social media.

“You are accountable for your words and actions, be it online or offline!”

• For the sake of the course of justice to prevail, the names of the persons involved were covered so it cannot be seen on the photos.

• For more information about SA Investigations, call Mr Boucher on 064 534 5853.