The Eldorado Park teenager videoed having sex with Johannesburg metro police officers may have been drugged before the orgy took place.
from the Saturday Star, South Africa
And, the Saturday Star has learnt, more men were lining up in the corridor to take turns having sex with her, according to footage on the cellphone video clip. Four of those in the clip have been positively identified by the mother of the 16-year-old girl.
Two metro police officers, Von Dooms, 22, and Chester Vaughan, 24, were charged this week with contravening the Films and Publications Act. Detectives are still looking for a third man they believe was involved in the sex orgy.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity, said on Friday that she had been informed by a social worker that the girl told her she had been offered juice, and "felt nice" after drinking it.
| ‘Felt nice’ |
Her daughter could not recall what happened afterwards, the mother claimed. She said her daughter would never agree do such things if she were acting normally.
The mother said she had viewed some of the footage, which has been widely distributed by MMS and posted on the Internet, and – contrary to police claims that only three men were involved – had seen a queue of men lining up in a passage, apparently waiting their turn.
On the clip, the girl can be seen cavorting in her school uniform, a metro police cap on her head. Smiling, she tells the person filming her: "Please take a shot from this side – this is my good side." She then proceeds to have sex on camera.
"The police have arrested two men, but on the video there are more," continued the mother, who suffered a mild heart attack after seeing the video clip.
"I could not look at it for long. After seeing that it was my daughter and identifying the faces of the men, I gave the phone back to the person who brought it here."
| ‘The police have arrested two men’ |
Gauteng police Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht was unable to divulge more information, as she had been unable to contact the investigating officers on Friday because the Vodacom cellular network had crashed. She added that police feared that releasing any more information could jeopardise their investigations.
Meanwhile, the girl’s family said they were feeling threatened and scared.
Her mother said: "These people are threatening my kids and desperately want to get hold of my girl, because they do not want her to talk. Some of them are married with children."
The girl’s 12-year-old sister added: "We see cars parked here at night and they swear at us. They have said that if she dares say anything, they will kill her."
Rebotile Bopape and Portia Mngomezulu, of Joburg law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens, said in terms of the Age of Majority Act, all persons are considered to be minors until they reach the age of 21, but the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 16.
The Films and Publications Act defines child pornography as any image depicting a person under the age of 18 years who is engaged in any sexual conduct. Anyone possessing, creating or helping create child pornography is guilty of an offence. This extends to persons who advertise or promote child pornography.
Anyone convicted of child pornography faces 10 years in jail or a fine or both.
The girl involved in the pornographic clip, who is suffering from kidney failure, is in protective custody and very ill.
"I spoke to her yesterday and she is not well. When her kidney fails, her face swells and I was told that she is so sick. At the same I need tablets for my heart and they cost R400, but I cannot afford them," the girl’s mother said.
But some members of the community are asking why anyone should feel sorry for the mother.
"At the time when the clip came to the fore, the girl had disappeared for nine days. The police were not sure if she was dead or alive. What kind of a mother is she?" said a community member, who did not want to be named.
"The girl was no longer in school. What does that say about the mother?" added the girl’s aggrieved paternal grandmother.