A Paradise Beach father told the Gqeberha high court on Wednesday that the allegations of sexual abuse were just an elaborate ploy concocted by his family to send him to prison and excuse his stepson from a history of deviant behaviour.
The 56-year-old man, accused of sexually assaulting his oldest daughter and using his own children to create pornography, maintained his innocence while under cross-examination for the second consecutive day.
He faces more than 700 charges, including sexual assault, bestiality, and the production and distribution of child pornography.
Confused as to why the man now believed the allegations were part of a conspiracy theory, state advocate Ismat Cerfontein said his claims were in stark contrast to his earlier testimony that his stepson had embraced him in the court’s holding cells and told him how much he loved him.
Cerfontein said instead of answering the questions put to him by the state, he had a tendency to elaborate at length on irrelevant details whenever he was painted in a bad light.
The accused cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter.
The alleged incidents took place between 2015 and 2022.
It is the state’s case that the accused instructed his stepson and biological daughter to engage in sexual acts together while he filmed them.
He also allegedly instructed his stepson to take pictures and videos while he engaged in sexual acts with his sister and other girls.
The stepson, now 22, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after he admitted to raping his half-sister.
Meanwhile, the man’s former partner and the children’s mother, was sentenced to a three-year suspended sentence for not reporting the sexual offences and for defeating the ends of justice when she warned the man about the police investigation.
During court proceedings, transcripts of text messages alleged to be between the accused and his stepson were read out.
The messages dated back to July 2022 — months after the accused claimed he no longer had any contact with his stepson and had kicked him out the house.
In the text messages, the exchanging of “nudes” is discussed, and the accused allegedly asks his stepson if he has more naked pictures of the other girls he was dating and asks for specific girls by name.
Images were also allegedly exchanged, to which the accused replied: “Nice.”
However, the accused denied any knowledge of the messages and said they needed to be authenticated.
He claimed his stepson had an app on his phone with which he could hack into other people’s mobile devices.
He also told the court that he knew about lengthy discussions between his stepson and his former partner while they were incarcerated together, and how they were “in cahoots” with the complainant to build a case against him.
The trial continues.
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.