Rape-accused Paradise Beach dad, stepson to stand trial in May

A Paradise Beach father and his stepson, charged with a host of sexual offences including incest, human trafficking and rape, have asked for more time to consult with their lawyers before trial.

They appeared briefly in the Gqeberha high court yesterday and the matter was accordingly postponed to May 6.

Legal Aid SA defence advocate Johan van der Spuy said because of the delay he would not personally be able to finalise the matter and new representation would have to be appointed for both men.

Van der Spuy committed to finalising all the necessary paperwork by yesterday so that the trial could proceed in May.

The 55-year-old father and his 20-year-old stepson face 744 charges, including rape, sexual assault, the creation, possession and distribution of child pornography, grooming, human trafficking, earning a living from the sexual exploitation of minors, exposing children and people with mental disabilities to pornography, failing to report the sexual assault of a minor, and bestiality.

The alleged offences occurred over a period of about seven years.

This allegedly included the rape of the man’s teenage daughter by her half-brother at his behest.

In June, the 40-year-old mother of the 20-year-old accused pleaded guilty to the failure to report the sexual assault of a minor and defeating the ends of justice.

She was handed a threeyear suspended sentence.

The mother of four also admitted she had known her son from a previous relationship had allegedly raped his half-sister and molested the two younger children.

She admitted alerting her long-term partner that he was being investigated by the police before his September 2022 arrest.

Both men were denied bail and have been in custody since.

Various electronic devices seized during the investigation allegedly contained thousands of images and recordings of child pornography.

The state alleges that the father, over several years, regularly viewed pornography on his computer in front of the children.

It is alleged that the man first began exposing his eldest daughter, now 18, to pornography from the age of 10.

At the age of 11, the girl was allegedly forced by the two accused to perform sex acts on her father, while the stepbrother allegedly began sexually assaulting her when she was 12.

It is alleged further that the assaults were recorded by the father on his cellphone and later uploaded onto his computer for him to sell.

In January 2021, the girl reported the alleged incidents to her aunt, who informed the girl’s parents.

The younger children were also questioned and it emerged that the 20-year-old had allegedly sexually assaulted his younger half-brother at the age of five, while the younger sister had allegedly been assaulted from when she was in grade R until the age of nine.