Plettenberg Bay ‘baby predator’ bail condemned

WMACA director Miranda Friedmann said the state had a duty to protect children after the unidentified man’s bail was set at R10 000 when he appeared in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

“How does our court grant bail to a criminal who could make contact with others involved, alerting them to cover all traces of their activities? This man should be under police surveillance until all the suspects are found,” said Friedmann.

It was reported the man had been arrested after police decrypted a “rape and kill” file, which provided access to a website containing fetishes for the abduction, bondage, rape and murder of newborn babies.

During Operation Cloud 9, 1 700 new images of children who were not on Interpol’s database of child-porn victims were discovered.

Friedmann said a number of children could be saved if police could identify the perpetrators on the 334 internet addresses listed on the arrested man’s online profile.

“WMACA calls on our government and police officials to ensure that South Africa is equipped at all times with the necessary technology to enable a dedicated police team to keep up with that kind of crime syndicates and individuals, to close down and arrest any person caught producing and distributing images of rape and torture of children,” she said.

“We call on members of the public to come forward with information they may have to assist the police in identifying the other perpetrators exposed during Operation 9 and any other suspicious activities they are aware of.”

In August last year, an East Rand mother and her male friend were each sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of raping the woman’s three-year-old daughter and filming child pornography.

The duo had each been sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment on the rape charge, and five years for the creation of child pornography in Brenthurst on Gauteng’s East Rand.

The duo’s identities may not be named to protect the child’s identity.

Read more: East Rand child pornography duo sentenced