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Model boss trial gets under way

Johannesburg - The trial of a modelling agency owner, Dawie de Villiers accused of a string of charges including rape, sexual grooming and sexual assault of his clients, got underway in the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Wednesday.

The State called its first witness - a 10-year-old boy - who testified in camera through an intermediary.

The boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, told the court he remembered visiting De Villiers at his home about four years ago.

The boy said he watched as De Villiers did his job. Asked what job De Villiers did, the boy said: "He took pictures of girls."

"Some girls were wearing bikinis and I remember that one girl was very naked. I could see her bum from behind and I could see part of her breast," he said.

He told the court that the girl, who was assumed to be around 18, was in De Villiers' bedroom. She was standing up with her hands on the wall, slightly turned towards De Villiers who was behind the lens.

Pictures on computer

Asked whether he had seen any other naked girls, the boy responded in the affirmative.

"I saw girls standing in a row waiting for him to take a picture. Most of them were in very small bikinis. I saw girls who put their panties in their bum," he said, referring to G-strings.

The child said he had been with his younger sister at the time.

The boy also told the court that he had seen pictures on De Villiers' computer. The girls were dressed in bikinis, similar to those he had seen at De Villiers' home.

The girl who was with the young boy also took the stand.

She told the court that on one occasion, she had accompanied some models who were at De Villiers' house to the bathroom where they changed into their bikinis.

While with them, she saw their private parts as they got dressed.

The 35-year-old De Villers was charged for exposing the children to pornography.

De Villiers has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

His case continues on Thursday.

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