A 35-year-old lawyer from Heidelberg, Gauteng, accused of buying a 13-year-old girl from her mother was ‘in a relationship’ with the minor, the court heard yesterday.

This was stated by Advocate Harold Davids, the attorney for the 38-year-old mother (accused one), when she appeared alongside accused two, the lawyer, in a high court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court for the start of their trial yesterday.

The pair face a barrage of charges related to trafficking in persons, sexual offences and kidnapping, sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and rape. The victim in the case involving the lawyer is the woman’s daughter, now aged 15.

The offences took place in Ekurhuleni (Boksburg, Heidelberg, Brakpan and Springs), as well as Villiers, Amanzimtoti and Ramsgate between mid-2022 and early 2023.

The court case continues today.

The lawyer was granted R20 000 bail at the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on April 24, last year. The mother remains remanded in custody.

The mother cannot be named to protect the identity of her minor daughter, and the attorney may be named only once he has pleaded.