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- Child sex abuse ring kingpin Gerhard Ackerman has been found guilty of more than 720 charges including rape, human trafficking, sexual grooming of children, attempted murder and sexual exploitation of children.
- Judge Ismail Mohamed accepted the evidence of the victims and recounted their testimony in harrowing detail.
- The court rejected Ackerman's defence, finding him to be a weak witness because of his lies and contradictions.
In rejecting Gerhard Ackerman's defence in the child sex abuse ring case, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg accepted and believed the evidence of the teenage victims as they recounted their traumatic experiences.
On Monday, Ackerman was found guilty of more than 720 charges, most of which relate to the unlawful possession of child pornography and the running of a child sex abuse ring in Johannesburg.
Ackerman ran this ring with the help of senior advocate and acting judge Paul Kennedy, who died by suicide before the trial started.
Judge Mohamed Ismail's 56-page judgment carefully detailed all the evidence placed before the court, including the testimony of the teenage victims who had previously testified in camera, meaning that their testimony was held in closed court to protect their identities.
Their stories
Fifteen-year-old *TW detailed how, after he started speaking to Ackerman on Facebook, the man he knew as Gerrie offered him a masseur job and assured him that everything was legitimate.
After arriving in Johannesburg at the so-called massage parlour, Ackerman put TW to work where he was sexually exploited. In his testimony, TW said he was sexually assaulted by clients.
He also recounted how he and another teenager went to Kennedy's house, where sexually lewd acts were performed and he was also raped by Kennedy. Kennedy paid the boys a sum of money before returning to Ackerman's house.
READ | Child sex abuse ring case: Ackerman's version rejected as court finds him guilty of over 720 charges
SJ*, 16, testified that Ackerman had convinced him to come over with the promise of making a lot of money.
"The boy told his mother that he was offered a job by Gerrie, and his mother 'told him that it was a bad choice'. His mother spoke to the accused. Subsequently the accused told SJ 'how fucked up' his parents were," Ismail said.
After arriving at Ackerman's house, Ackerman made him lie on a massage table, where he raped the teenager.
Ismail said:
SJ detailed the pain he experienced and said that, thereafter, he had to service another client.
SJ was also one of the teenagers taken to Kennedy's home, where he was raped by the well-known advocate.
DLD*, who was 16 years old at the time, was also promised a life of money and luxury by Ackerman.
READ | Child sex abuse trial: Gerhard Ackerman's ever-changing version riddled with contradictions
In desperate need of money, DLD met Ackerman.
He told the court of how Ackerman raped him and that he had not consented.
Ismail said:
DLD immediately decided to get away from Ackerman.
"The accused apologised and asked him to stay. He phoned one of his friends to fetch him in order to get home. He did not tell his friend what happened. He wanted to forget about the incident, and he pretended it never happened."
WS*, 14, was taken from Pretoria to Ackerman's house by a client of his, along with two other teenagers.
Ackerman sexually assaulted the teenager before arranging three clients for him. His third client was Kennedy, who raped him and then paid him R4 000. The two other clients gave him R950 each.
The victims also testified about how they were told to make sexually explicit videos for Ackerman, for which they were compensated. During the trial, it was revealed that these videos were sent to clients, including Kennedy.
Accepting the evidence of the victims, Ismail also noted the similarities of the evidence given by the victims, many of whom did not know each other.
"Several children testified how they got to know the accused and how they were recruited by him, trained by him and how they serviced his clients for reward. Most of these children did not know each other; however, their evidence has a pattern of similarity via the accused recruitment, training and the payments they received from clients and how they had to pay the accused a portion of their fee. How he made appointments for his client."
The court found Ackerman guilty of rape and sexual assault in relation to the incidents. Ismail also found Ackerman guilty of the rapes and sexual assault committed by Kennedy through the doctrine of common purpose as he presented the advocate with the teenagers to molest.
Ismail rejected Ackerman's version that the children consented and participated voluntarily and that his golden rule was "no sex".
READ | How Gerhard Ackerman allegedly fronted Joburg massage parlour to run a child sex abuse ring
Despite the evidence and his concessions, Ackerman maintained that he merely ran an above-board massage parlour with no "funny business".
Ismail was at pains not only to point out the overwhelming evidence against Ackerman but also that his many versions stood to be rejected.
"I can safely say that the accused's evidence was so poor and contradictory that it should be rejected, save where it accords with the State's evidence," Ismail said.
Ackerman is expected to be sentenced in July.
*Note: Not their real names.
