WC police net three alleged online sex predators targeting children
Seven people have so far been arrested for distributing child pornography since November 2023.
Picture: Pexels
CAPE TOWN - Western Cape police have arrested three alleged online sexual predators targeting children.
This brought the number of suspects arrested for distributing child pornography to seven since November 2023.
The trio was caught in various parts of the province last week, following an ongoing investigation into online child sexual predators spanning across South Africa.
“The first suspect, a 53-year-old man, was arrested last Wednesday. He has so far been found with 95,000 images and 6,000 videos of child pornography,” the police's Athlende Mathe said.
“The second suspect, a 40-year-old man, was arrested in Kraaifontein on Thursday. He was found with more than 149,000 pictures of child pornography. The third suspect, a 32-year-old man, was found to be chatting and luring underage girls on chat groups where nude pictures were exchanged.”
In 2023, police arrested three suspects in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal in a similar takedown operation.
“These arrests form part of an international operation to trace manufacturers, users, and distributors of child pornography.
“We are urging parents to monitor the devices and social media accounts of their children to ensure that they don’t fall prey to such crimes,” added Mathe.