Guilty of sex assault

Isak Collins (50) was found guilty in the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court on Thursday, 12 November of paying a seven-year-old girl R41 so that he could sexually assault her.

Collins pleaded not guilty to the charge that relates to an incident on 13 April 2019 at the car park at Diaz beach.

A concerned father, who had taken his son to the beach to surf on the day in question, saw the incident take place after he and his son emerged from the water. While waiting for his son to take a shower, the father saw Collins luring the young girl closer to his grey Uno in the parking lot, whereafter he saw the suspect put his hand on her private parts.

The eyewitness shouted at the man and ran towards the scene, after which he took the keys out of the suspect’s car’s ignition.

The eyewitness called the police and the suspect was arrested on a charge of sexual assault. The money paid to the victim was found in her possession.

Collins was found guilty and will be sentenced on 10 December. He is currently out on bail.

Corné Pretorius represented the state as the prosecutor. The case was successfully investigated by Warrant Officer Alistair Rezant from the Mossel Bay Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.