Lerato Mbhiza
THE South African Police Services arrested three alleged online child sex predators in a joint operation by the South African Police Service and the USA Department of Homeland Security.
One of the men posed as a teenager to lure underage girls to a chat group, where child pornography was distributed and shared amongst the other two suspects.
All three suspects were arrested in the Western Cape.
This brings to seven the number of online child sex predators that have been arrested since November. From the previous four arrests – one was from KwaZulu-Natal while three were from Gauteng.
The police’s spokesperson Athlenda Mathe confirmed one of the three men taken into custody in the Western Cape is accused of posing as a teenager to lure underage girls to a chat group.
“The first suspect, a 53-year-old man was arrested last Wednesday. He has so far been found with 95,000 images and 6000 videos of child pornography. He faces a charge of accessing, distributing and possessing child pornography.
“The second suspect, a 40-year-old man, was arrested in Kraaifontein on Thursday. In his possession, he was found with more than 149,000 pictures of child pornography as well as more than 5000 videos.
“And the third suspect, a 32-year-old man from Mitchell’s Plain, was the third suspect to be arrested on Friday. He was found to be chatting and luring underage girls into chat groups where nude pictures were exchanged.”
All three have appeared in court, and their cases have been postponed for further investigations.
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