Child rape ring kingpin Gerhard Ackerman found guilty of over 700 charges

By Phephile Motau

Sex ring kingpin Gerhard Ackerman has been found guilty of over 700 charges. He was found guilty on Monday morning by the Gauteng High Court, according to The Citizen.

The charges include rape, attempted kidnapping, sexual exploitation, sexual grooming, and possession of child pornography. It was reported that his trial started in January, which saw him taking nearly two days to plead not guilty to 740 charges.

According to the publication, despite maintaining his innocence claiming that he did nothing wrong because the young boys “knew what they were doing”, Johannesburg High Court Judge Ismail Mahomed said Ackerman exploited children and targeted their vulnerability with a number of the boys coming from disadvantaged homes.

Read More: Eswatini Inyanga linked to KwaZulu-Natal murder of 10 family members

The trial ran on and off for three months, where prosecutor, advocate Valencia Dube, 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 cell phone and laptop.

Discharge application

After the State closed its case, Ackerman brought a discharge application, where he was reportedly acquitted of two rape charges relating to him allegedly performing oral sex on two different complainants, two boys aged 15 and 16.

Throughout his trial, Ackerman made several concessions, including how he allowed boys as young as 14 It is alleged Ackerman also requested pornographic images and videos from the children and sometimes paid them for the content. In addition, hundreds of images and videos of child pornography was found on Ackerman’s cell phone and laptop.

Read More: Mbombela cop shoots colleague dead over wife

The full list of charges Ackerman faces includes but is not limited to:
 639 counts of unlawful possession of child pornography.
 Eighteen counts of the sexual grooming of children.
 Five counts of using children for or benefitting from child pornography.

 Five counts of human trafficking.
 Seven counts of rape.
 Seven counts of sexual assault.
 One count of compelled rape.
 Eleven counts of sexual exploitation of children.