[Image: Sowetan Live]
Tiona Moodley, the second accused in this child pornography case, is going to have to do more than clutch a bible to her chest as the law is set in motion.
During her recent bail application in the Randburg magistrate’s court, her lawyer Adv Kriel Cronje revealed that her relatives have refused to take her in. The woman now has nowhere to stay, complicating the court proceedings.
On Tuesday, the 25-year-old and her sicko boyfriend, accused number one, Darren Wilken, appeared together for the first time in court to face charges for manufacturing and distributing child pornography, as well as money laundering.
Wilken also faces additional charges, including contravening the Drug Trafficking Act, possession of stolen property, fraud, and the acquisition and use of proceeds from unlawful activities.
The 35-year-old man was arrested on 17 January during a search-and-seizure operation at his Midrand residence in Gauteng, while Moodley, a web designer, was apprehended in Houghton, Johannesburg, on 23 January, The Citizen reported.
More than 10 million images of child pornography were found in hard drives in their rented property in Midrand, while money laundering was added to the charges after a sum of money was found on the property.
Electronic devices containing child sexual abuse material, along with drugs and cash, were seized, according to the South African Police Service.
It was revealed that preliminary investigations uncovered more than 20 counts of money laundering, involving funds moving in and out of Wilken’s bank accounts.
“The state has, in this very short time it had the opportunity to investigate this matter with the financial aspects involved, found a minimum of 24 counts of money laundering.”
Moodley and Wilken are applying for bail, except the bail hearing could not proceed because Moodley’s address had not yet been verified.
Prosecutor Colleen Ryan noted that they were only furnished with the address the morning the accused appeared in court, and “that address has not yet been verified,” she said.
“Both accused one [Moodley’s boyfriend Wilken] and two lived together in the rental property. The arrest of accused one turned into a media circus. The effect was that the landlord with immediate effect terminated the lease agreement.
“We then arranged that she will stay with family members but they became concerned due to various factors, but they cannot allow her to stay there if their address will be mentioned in court. We then arranged for a third family member,” Cronje said.
“We found ourselves in a position that, due to the circumstances of this specific case, it became impossible to live at the residence they had,” the advocate added.
The case has been postponed until February 3 to allow the investigating officer time to verify both of the accused’s addresses and to hear their bail applications. They will remain in custody until then.
[Sources: The Citizen & Sowetan Live]
