City man in global child porn network sentenced
A CAPE Town man, who is part of an international child pornography network, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison following his conviction on more than 3 000 counts of distribution, importation and creation of child pornography.
The Wynberg Regional Court suspended two years of the sentence for five years on condition that Clinton Calder is not convicted of Sexual Offences and Related Matters or contravention of the Films and Publications Act.
He was convicted on 3 195 counts of possession of child pornography, a count of distributing child pornography, a count of importation of child pornography and a count of creation of child pornography.
Calder started his criminal activities in September 2014 until June 2015. He was arrested in August 2015.
Prosecutors advocate Evadne Kortje and advocate Rene Uys told the court that Calder was part of an international child pornography network that had led law officials worldwide to trace and expose the peer to peer file-sharing child pornography offenders, a group not easily detected and apprehended.
Calder was in possession of 3 215 child abuse images.
“The voluminous collection of child abuse material perpetuated the offences against the child victims depicted in these child abuse images and videos.
“The child abuse that is depicted in the images includes sexual exploitation, sexual violation and sexual penetration of children.
“The images and videos establish numerous violations of the rights of the children to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity, as depicted.
“It is important to note that Calder never in his evidence viewed or explained the child abuse material as a depiction of child abuse scenes. His explanation of curiosity is dangerous.
“Referring to his collection and downloading as nonsense and silly things, are just a few examples. He was diagnosed with paedophilic disorder which manifests the risk of re-offending. It is the State’s submission that this evaluation escalates the risk of re-offending for the appellant,” the prosecutors told the court during arguments in aggravation of sentence.
State witness Warrant Officer Grobler-Koonin explained the secure and specific peculiarities involved to access peer-to-peer file sharing networks – and in this matter Gigatribe. He told the court that Calder had to specifically log on to the network to gain access; thereafter he had to connect with a peer and request files in order to download his vast collection. Throughout he had to use his secure password.
“This evidence illustrated a calculated manner in which he accumulated his collection of child abuse material. The attempt by the accused to get rid of the laptop at the time of his arrest is indicative of his blatant disrespect for the enforcement of law and his need to hide his complicity in the sexual exploitation of children worldwide.
“The State submits that the sentence imposed by this court must sufficiently reflect the promotion of the rights of children to be protected against sexual abuse and degradation,” the State argued.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the sentence, saying this indicated its commitment to the fight for the rights of children which are guaranteed in the South African Constitution.