Man’s child sex charge withdrawn

THE state has withdrawn a child sex charge against an elderly Kenton-on-Sea man and replaced it with a similar joint charge involving a local pensioner.

The arrest of the 68-year-old Zimbabwean man and a 76-yearold man in August sent shock waves through the community after eight young girls aged between eight and 12 claimed they had been sexually molested separately by them.

Hundreds of people from nearby Ekuphumleni protested outside the court and bail for both men was initially refused.

Although the men were charged separately, the sex charge against the Zimbabwean was later dropped according to his defence attorney Basil Williams and replaced with a joint one instead.

Police spokesman Captain Mali Govender confirmed a charge had been withdrawn.

During his initial bail application, it emerged the man had been in South Africa illegally for the past 18 years and had been running a business in the resort town for the past few years.

Williams yesterday said the initial sex charge was replaced with the joint one and the man was also arrested for contravention of the Immigration Act.

He was released on R1 000 bail for the sex charge and R500 for the immigration charge.

The second accused, who also spent more than a month in prison, was later released on R1 000 bail.

The men, who cannot be named due to the nature of the crime until they have pleaded, appeared briefly in court on Monday.

Govender said the case was postponed to January 9. —