A 41-year-old former school principal appeared in court for allegedly exposing children to pornography and sexual grooming.
A former teacher and school principal appeared at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for allegedly exposing pornography to children and sexually grooming three boy pupils from his school.
The 41-year-old is facing three counts of exposing pornography to children and four counts of sexual grooming of two 13-year-olds and one 15-year-old boy pupils from Raslouw Academy.
The school operates as a private institution in Centurion, catering specifically to pupils with special needs.
Ex-teacher at special needs school
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumauka Mahanjana alleged that the ex-teacher contacted the three boys in August 2024.
He allegedly sent the pupils nude pictures of himself and requested they send their nudes in exchange.
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The accused allegedly requested and received a picture from one of the children, then video-called the pupil and proceeded to demonstrate inserting his penis into a bottle.
“One of the victims reported the matter to the school teacher, who requested they bring their phones to school for observation,” Mahanjana said.
“The parents of the victims were informed about the incident by the school, and a case was opened against the accused in August 2024.”
Case opened in August
The South African Police Service (Saps) conducted investigations, which led to the arrest of the accused at his residence on Friday.
The court postponed the matter to 24 December 2024 for a possible bail application and remanded the accused in custody.
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A joint operation between the Saps, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security resulted in the arrest of the accused.
The authorities have positively identified three victims so far, and investigators are still working to locate six additional victims.
Saps and FBI child pornography operation
Police arrested a 49-year-old suspect from Vanderbijlpark on Thursday for allegedly sexually grooming, sexually assaulting, and raping his girlfriend’s 15-year-old daughter in the same operation.
In both matters, the teams seized various electronic devices suspected of containing sexual child abuse images and videos, or commonly known as child pornography.
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