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Grahamstown - A man described as a “child porn kingpin” has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to the possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography.
Antony Evans, 53, was sentenced in the Grahamstown High Court on Friday in terms of a plea agreement which he had entered into earlier this month, wherein he pleaded guilty to all charges against him.
He was arrested earlier this year in a joint operation by the police's Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units and the American Federal Bureau of Investigation.
His criminal activities attracted the attention of the authorities in the US after seven people, who were using a specific website, were arrested. Evans is believed to be the web administrator of the site.
Authorities said the websites core activity was to lure innocent children to engage in acts of pornography.
Evans is believed to have pretended to be a teenage girl, conning hundreds of child victims into performing sexual acts on themselves, which he then recorded then streamed over the internet.
Authorities said about 600 victims aged between 8 and 13, most of them from the United States had been exploited via these websites.
Miranda Friedmann, Director of Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA), said, while they would have preferred a harsher sentence, they were happy that he would be receiving jail time.
WMACA had protested outside the Grahamstown High Court when Evans first appeared.
"We are happy knowing he will be sitting in jail," she said.
