Collaboration between SA Police and FBI leads to arrest of two suspects for child pornography and grooming charges
Pretoria – Two individuals suspected of sexual grooming, manufacturing, and distributing child pornography have been apprehended in a collaborative operation involving the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the US Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement issued on Sunday, (15 December 2024), SAPS announced that the cooperation with US law enforcement authorities facilitated the tracking and capture of the two suspects.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk stated that the suspects were detained for sexual grooming, possession, downloading, manufacturing, and distributing child pornography in various locations across Gauteng.
Lieutenant Colonel Van Wyk mentioned that in the first operation, which took place on Thursday, (12 December 2024), members of both the national and Gauteng provincial Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations Unit and Forensic Social Work, in conjunction with the FBI, acted on information received via an international tip line.
She indicated that investigations directed the team to a location in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, where a 49-year-old man was arrested on allegations of sexually grooming and raping his girlfriend’s 15-year-old daughter.
“In a subsequent operation on Friday, (13 December 2024), another suspect, a 41-year-old former teacher and school principal in Pretoria, was arrested for exposing minors to adult pornography and sexually grooming boys aged between 10 and 12,” said Lieutenant Colonel Van Wyk.
“So far, three victims have been positively identified, while another six victims are yet to be located.”
This operation saw a multi-disciplinary team that included members from the national and Gauteng provincial SECI Unit, along with the Pretoria Central Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit, working together with the US Department of Homeland Security.
Lieutenant Colonel Van Wyk stated: “In both cases, the teams confiscated various electronic devices believed to contain images and videos of child sexual abuse, commonly referred to as child pornography.”
Both suspects are anticipated to appear separately in the Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court and Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Monday, (17 December 2024).
Lieutenant Colonel Van Wyk noted that the state will oppose bail in both circumstances.