Heaviest sentence yet for possession of child porn
The Thembalethu Regional Court in George on November 7 handed down the heaviest sentence to date in the country for the possession of child pornography with the sentencing of William Beale to 15 years’ imprisonment (the maximum sentence allowed in a regional court).
According to a statement from Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA), due to the sheer volume of child sexual abuse images, it took three years for Beale to be sentenced on 18 644 charges of possession of child pornography.
The director of WMACA, Miranda Jordan-Friedmann, said they had been actively monitoring Beale’s case as part of the international Take Down Cloud 9 operation.
“Even with 20 years of experience in the child abuse service and advocacy spheres, we were still shocked to our core by some of the appalling details of the crimes that were captured in the images Beale possessed, and we welcome magistrate Eugenia Jacobs’ decision to give him the maximum penalty.
“Society has an obligation to protect children; it is enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights – they should be free from physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or moral harm; maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
“The 900-plus children in these images were denied these most basic of rights, and today Magistrate Jacobs acknowledged that,” Friedmann said.
“It is a good day for justice and speaks volumes that she handed down the heaviest sentence in South Africa’s history for possessing child pornography.”
