‘Apeman’ begins life sentence behind bars

A man who is arguably one of South Africa's most notorious paedophiles was once a teacher‚ working with young boys at a school in Boksburg in the East Rand.

The 40-year-old man left the Christian Brother's College in the early 2000s after allegations surfaced that he was being investigated for sexually related charges‚ involving two young girls.

He had given the girls private karate lessons.

The case however‚ never made it to court.

The man was initially suspended pending the outcome of the investigation but he chose to dump the teaching profession after that.

A person associated with CBC on Monday told TMG Digital that the 870 charges his colleague was found guilty of was something he could not comprehend.

He was a popular guy‚ even among the children‚ the source said‚ adding that he had an eccentric character which was complemented by long hair which hung below his shoulders.

But on Monday‚ the convicted paedophile started a new chapter behind bars.

He was sentenced to 32 life terms for each of the 32 rape charges against him.

His youngest victim was a year old when he first sexually assaulted her. She was two years old when he started raping her.

He faced an additional 170 years for charges ranging from possession of child porn‚ grooming a child for pornography‚ exposing a child to masturbation‚ creating child pornography and sexual assault.

TMG Digital has chosen not to name the convicted paedophile in order to protect his victims.

He had been romantically involved with the mothers of two of his victims.

The man’s second victim was 12 years old when she woke up‚ on more than one occasion‚ to find him on top of her performing sexual acts. This was over a six-month period.

The third victim was a friend of the second victim.

• READ MORE: South African paedophile gets 32 life sentences for filming lewd acts with childrenOne of the country’s worst paedophiles was sentenced to 32 life terms behind bars and a further 170 years on Monday.

She had visited her friend when the man undressed her as she slept and took videos of her private parts.

Speaking to reporters after the sentencing‚ the man's ex-girlfriends revealed that he was estranged from his wife after she had caught him watching a video where he had been sexually inappropriate with their daughter's friend.

"In that case‚ they lost the docket‚" one of the women told reporters.

His wife left and secured full custody of their daughter.

According to the women‚ the man had met his wife at Benoni High School where she was a pupil while he was doing his teacher training.

The pair later married.

The women felt betrayed by the man's family as they were aware of his sexually distasteful history‚ but they never warned them.

"His family definitely knew what he was capable of‚" said one of the women.

The man's family was not present in court‚ except for his brother who was a lone figure‚ sitting in the first row of the court gallery.

Already predicting the lengthy jail sentence which lay ahead‚ on Friday the two brothers bid an emotional farewell to each other. Crying and hugging each other as they said goodbye.

The women believe that their matters were simply the tip of the iceberg.

"And our three daughters were not the only ones. There were numerous videos of numerous other children‚" they said.

Not all the victims were willing to be subjected to a court case.

On Friday‚ the man wept before the court‚ stating that he needed help.

He claimed to have been sodomised as a child‚ suffered from depression and had tried to commit suicide several times.

But since his incarceration‚ he had found God.

His ex-girlfriends‚ however‚ said he had always been a 'holy' man who even attended Bible classes and visited children's homes as part of church outreach projects.

They had no hope he would ever be rehabilitated.

The sentence handed down to the accused was proof that Judge Cassim Moosa was not moved by his outcry on Friday.

Moosa said: "There is no substantially compelling evidence which exists to cause the court to deviate to a lesser sentence than the prescribed minimum sentence.

“The accused was a father figure to the victim.... He abused her trust‚” Moosa said‚ speaking about the first victim. Besides his penis‚ the convicted rapist had used a vibrator and thermometer as well as the victim’s own dinosaur toy to penetrate her.

The man’s reign of terror came to an abrupt end when US officials tracked him down after he had shared dozens of his self-produced videos on a website where other paedophiles exchanged videos of their acts.

He had used the alias 'Apeman' to share the videos.

He confessed that that he never stopped his sexual assault on the toddler because of guilt‚ but because he was afraid he would get caught. In an affidavit read before the court‚ the man said he stopped raping and sexually molesting the infant “when she began talking too much”.

He said he was worried that she would tell others about what he had been doing to her.

Following court proceedings‚ the man rushed down to the holding cells below the court‚ carrying plastic‚ a blanket and trolley bag‚ avoiding being photographed by the media.

The successful car salesman‚ who made around R50‚000 a month‚ will never walk the streets of Boksburg again.