Cape Town - Bonteheuwel residents and activists are up in arms over the postponement of the case of a 32-year-old mother accused of selling explicit pictures of her children online for money.
The woman, whose name has not been revealed to protect the identity of her children, was arrested by police in July following a joint investigation by the SAPS and the FBI after naked pictures of her 4-year-old daughter were traced back to her.
She made her third brief appearance in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, where her case was postponed to next month. She remains in police custody.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila announced the postponement, saying that the matter had been remanded until November 17 for further investigation.
Ward councillor Angus McKenzie said that residents were furious and disappointed at the stalling of the process to prosecute a woman accused of horrendous crimes.
“We are here once again for the court appearance of the mother, who is accused of selling child pornography – not just selling child pornography but pictures of her children.
“This is her third appearance and once again we are stuck in the horrible position that justice delayed is justice denied, a young girl and her siblings are struggling with the after-effects of what their mother has alleged to have done.”
“There are many other perpetrators of child abuse or GBV who are watching this specific case and thinking that they too can get away with their actions because the justice system is not working for the victims of the crime.
“We have to ensure that not only does this lady remain behind bars, but that this case puts pressure and leaves such a strong message that this sort of abuse and these sorts of allegations cannot be tolerated in our community.
“We will continue to be at this court. This case has been postponed to a later date, but we will be back again and the justice system will know that as a community we will not allow GBV, and we will not allow the hurting of our children. It must end and it must end now,” said McKenzie.