Kraaifontein man sentenced to 12 years in prison for possession of child pornography

The Bluedowns Regional Court has sentenced Corne van Royen, of Kraaifontein, to an effective 12-year-imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to illegally downloading and distributing child pornography among other charges.

He downloaded 453 images and videos of child pornography to store on his cellphone and other devices. When online, he would broadcast his collection of child pornography to other users, according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila.

The court has ordered his name be put into the National Register of Sex Offenders and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

During plea and sentencing proceedings, Van Rooyen confessed to committing 10 offences, which included unlawful distribution of child pornography, illegal possession of a firearm, ammunition, cruelty to animals and being in possession of protected species without a permit, Mr Ntabazalila said.

He said Van Royen admitted to downloading the Viber social media application, an instant messaging mobile application where one can share and receive messages, photos and videos. 

His username was “COME’ and the officials of the United States Department of Homeland Security (HSI) helped to identify him as the person with such a username.  

Police raided his Kraaifontein home on Thursday January 18 last year and found two firearms, two dogs, a fish and three ball python snakes that were kept without a valid permit as these are protected species. 

He was sentenced to a total of 49 years' direct imprisonment for all 10 charges, but the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, giving him 12 years' direct imprisonment. 

The court further ordered the six cellphones, three USB drives, three memory cards, a laptop and an external hard drive seized and be forfeited to the State.

Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell,  applauded the prosecution and investigation teams.