MUST READ: Newcastle sex offender jailed for child pornography

Sex offender, Nicolaas Johannes Christoffel van Helsdingen, 35, was found guilty on 356 charges of child pornography in April, has finally been sentenced to 15 years behind bars on Friday, July 19 in the Newcastle Regional Court.

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His conviction includes possession of child pornography, statutory rape, grooming children for sexual activity and instructing another person to use children for child pornography purposes.

The accused was caught and arrested on January 23, 2015 after police were tipped off by a concerned community member and the case was investigated by the Newcastle FCS (Family Violence and Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit).

According to Sergeant Quintin Williams of the Newcastle FCS, a child stumbled upon the pornographic images which were shared with the accused and a 14-year-old victim.

“The images were naked photos of herself as well as two other younger children. The child then reported the photos to an adult who then contacted us for help,” explained Sgt Williams.

Sgt Williams and his partner at the time, Constable Janus du Plessis, immediately began their investigations by setting up an interview with the teen who admitted to taking graphic images of two other children, which she then sent to Van Helsdingen.

A case was opened and the teen was taken to Van Helsdingen’s home where she identified the man who was arrested on the spot. His cellphone was confiscated but later the investigators realised he had attempted to delete images sent to him by the teen.

“We then informed him that his cellphone would be sent to the Cyber Crime Unit in Durban, where experts would retrieve the evidence,”revealed Sgt Williams.

The following Monday, January 26, 2015, he appeared in court for the first time, during which he was granted bail. Sgt Williams and Constable du Plessis applied for a warrant to search Van Helsdingen’s room for more evidence linking him to the crime.

READ: Accused Newcastle sex offender to re-appear in court in July

“It was granted and we immediately proceeded to his house, where we were met by his family members and members of the LCR Unit, who took photos of the search.

“We handed them a copy of the affidavit and the search warrant, and in their presence, we searched his room.

“Here we found 10 external hard drives hidden all around his room. We sent them away to Cyber Crimes to retrieve the data from them,”explains Sgt Williams.

After a few months, the hard drives as well as a final report were sent back to Newcastle, informing them that eight of the 10 hard drives were damaged, but data had been successfully retrieved from two of them, as well as from the cellphone.

A total of 350 explicit child pornographic photos and videos were found on the three different devices, as well as text conversations between Van Helsdingen and the teen detailing his requests that she send him nude pictures of herself and the other children.

It was also confirmed the offender and the victim had engaged in sexual intercourse on more than one occasion which is when it is believed he began to ‘groom’ her. “Initially he was charged with more than 1 225 counts of child pornography-related offenses, but he proceeded to plead not guilty throughout the duration of his trial, despite disturbingly graphic WhatsApp chats, photographs and videos which were presented as evidence,” says Sgt Williams.

All three children involved came forward to testify in camera to avoid intimidation by the accused.

Various officials, including cyber-crime experts, the SAPS FCS Unit and social workers and various psychologists presented evidence throughout the trial. During one of the court hearings, the accused’s new cellphone was unexpectedly confiscated, and also sent away for Cyber analysis and once again professionals retrieved explicit child pornographic images.

Eventually, on July 19, Magistrate T. Calditz made his final judgement, and slapped Van Helsdingen with a hefty jail sentence to be served effective immediately.

The sentencing was as follows:

• 350 charges of possession of child pornography – 10 years, of which five were suspended.
• Two charges of statutory rape – 10 years.
• Two charges of grooming children for sexual activity – 10 years.
• Two charges of instructing another person to use children for child pornography purposes.
• However, some of the charges will run concurrently, therefore van Helsdingen will ultimately serve a total of 15 years behind bars at Waterval Prison.
• He was furthermore declared unfit to possess a firearm, unfit to work with children, and his name was ordered to be entered into the South African Sexual Offenders Registry.

Explaining why the case was so important to all involved in the investigation and prosecution, Sgt Williams said, “We just could not let him get away and possibly harm other children.

“It was nearly four years of non-stop investigation, hard work and sacrifices, but at the end of it we knew we had solid evidence, which eventually paid off when justice was rightfully served.”

Sgt Williams and Cst du Plessis would like to thank Advocate Marion Willis-Smith for her tireless dedication in ensuring justice was served , and everyone who assisted them, especially FCS Commander, Captain Moothilal for his support and guidance throughout the duration of the trial.

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