Child pornography accused sentenced to 8 years

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has lauded the eight-year jail sentence imposed on a George man, Tyrone James, for being in possession of 56 822 images and/or videos containing child pornography.

“We are hopeful the sentence handed down to Tyrone confirms our seriousness in the fight against these types of crimes,’’ said spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

James, 39, also received a four-year suspended sentence for being in possession of cannabis and tik.

“This is not the first time where we secured a conviction and a good sentence against an accused in that region. Credit needs to go all parties we work with, the police, NGOs and communities.

“Families and communities place their trust in us to ensure that they get justice.

“We can only demonstrate our ability to ensure that the victims of crime receive justice if we all work together,” said Ntabazalila.

James admitted to being in possession of the child pornography in 2016.

He worked as a driver in his mother’s Wilderness gardening business, and was on his way to a client in March when he was pulled over at a roadblock.

After searching the vehicle, an officer searched him and found the tik and dagga.

In his plea, James said the officer informed him that he was going to be arrested for possession of drugs.

“I requested to phone my mother since I had other employees in the vehicle that needed to be fetched. I was allowed to make a phone call and thereafter the officer took my cellphone.

“When he inspected it, he discovered some photos containing child pornography and photos of the dagga plants that I was growing at home for my own personal use.

“Thereafter, I was taken to the police station,” he said.

Later that day, James accompanied the investigating officer to his house, for which the police officer had a search warrant for hard drives and computers.

Police confiscated James’s 11 hard drives, floppy discs, DVDs and CDs. “I admit that I was in possession of 56 822 images and/or videos containing child pornography.

“I downloaded all these images and videos containing child pornography from the internet from a site where these types of images can be downloaded for free.

“I was in no way involved in the manufacturing of any child pornography or the distribution of any child pornography. I only downloaded and possessed the images and/or videos for my own personal use,” James said.

A pre-sentencing and psychologist’s report was prepared before James was sentenced last Friday.