A 43-year-old man from Verulam is facing charges of rape, sexual grooming of children and exposure or display of or causing exposure or display of child pornography or pornography to children.
There are additional charges, which include assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, compelling or causing children to witness sexual acts, and child abuse or the deliberate neglect of a child.
This comes after the man allegedly raped his 10-year-old stepdaughter over 900 times during a five-year period from 2013 to 2018.
Also read: Human trafficking, fastest-growing industry, profiting around $150 billion per year
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was arrested on June 11, 2018.
Now after over a year of legal battles, it seems the net is closing in around the stepfather.
On Monday, July 29, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court viewed video footage, which allegedly shows the girl being forced to participate in sexual acts, which will form part of the evidence to be used against her stepfather.
The senior prosecutor, Cheryl Naidoo, told Judge Philip Nkosi, that while copies of the footage will not be made, the court will allow the defence to view the footage.
Naidoo explained the State has footage which contains videos, as well as further images relating to the creation, distribution and possession of pornography, which all pertains to the child in question.
Furthermore, she adds that she has indicated to the defence lawyer that the disk will be made available for the defence team to view at a convenient location. This will either be at a police station or court precinct, where the stepfather and his council can view the evidence.
Nkosi has allegedly advised the defence to view the evidence, before deciding if they will argue to have a copy of the footage.
The matter will resume on September 6, with a pre-trial hearing.
As this soul-shaking case unfolds, we strongly encourage anyone who knows anything about people who are committing crimes against children to report them immediately.
