Johannesburg - Johannesburg High Court Judge Ismail Mahomed has found child sex ring leader Gerhard Ackerman guilty on more than 700 of the 740 counts of rape, child pornography, attempted kidnapping, and human trafficking charges.
Judge Mahomed, who was scathing in his judgment, accused Ackerman of lying under oath after he testified that his massage parlour business, known for grooming minors, did not sanction acts of sexual exploitation beyond the golden rule of a happy ending.
Reading his judgment, the judge also confirmed that Ackerman had deliberately exploited children and targeted their disadvantaged family circumstances and vulnerability, as most of the young boys came from challenged households.
He said Ackerman, as the ring leader of the massage parlour, had in some incidents encouraged young boys to take videos of themselves naked, performing sexual acts, and even went as far as directing these young boys on what to do in order to send these videos to some of his clients, including advocate Paul Kennedy, who committed suicide ahead of the trial last year.
‘’The argument that they consented is a lie, as he exploited their vulnerability as most of the children came from troubled homes. So essentially, he took advantage of their state by offering them a place to stay and money, and his testimony that he was working to gain their trust is testament to that,’’ he said.
The judge further stated that the accused used his premises in Sandringham to conduct, harbour and facilitate human trafficking, with evidence confirming that he also promised happy endings to his clients.
The judge also found that Ackerman had made a living from recruiting and selling these minors to some of his clients and used his own home as a place of business under the guise of it being a massage parlour, with the judge saying no evidence was found that he also conducted a cooking business at his premises.
‘’The accused made a living sexually grooming and pimping these young children on Facebook, and no one has testified that they saw the accused cooking delicacies, which he claims are part of his business.’’
The judge said Ackerman had lied under oath when he said his business did not encourage victims to perform acts of sex beyond the happy ending rule.
‘’It is self-evident that clients dictated what they wanted to do with the boys and that his golden rule of no sex is a lie. He had the temerity to testify that it was his golden rule that there would be no sex, which was false, and the fact that he lied under oath is shocking,’’ the judge said.
The trial, which began in January and lasted over three months, also heard from the state prosecutor, advocate Valencia Dube, who in the past led the evidence of more than a dozen witnesses and presented hard evidence in the form of WhatsApp conversations from Ackerman as well as forensic reports on the child pornography found on his cellphone and laptop.
Towards the end of his scathing judgment, the judge said it would be remiss of him if he did not speak on the role played by advocate Paul Kennedy in the whole sex ring.
‘’I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't say something about the role played by Paul Kennedy in this matter. He was a participant in many of these crimes. He financed the transportation for some of the victims and assisted the accused with day-to-day expenses as and when the need arose.’’
‘’He also paid for the production of these videos. He was the only client, according to the evidence, where minors made house calls where rimming and fellatio acts were carried out. He brought shame not only to his life but also to his profession. For me, certainly, this was not a happy ending,’’ the judge said.
The case was postponed to July 13 for sentencing, with the judge saying he would not entertain any other delays as the lawyer for the accused had not been successful in sourcing a psychologist to assess Ackerman’s state of mind.
The Star