Alleged child porn 'maker and distributor' denied bail

Investigating officers testified that they had identified two minor victims

21 May 2024 - 22:20 By TimesLIVE
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The NPA says preliminary investigation indicates Sannon Angelo Manuel allegedly amassed a collection of 115,000 images and 20,000 videos of child pornography between April 2021 and January 2024.
The NPA says preliminary investigation indicates Sannon Angelo Manuel allegedly amassed a collection of 115,000 images and 20,000 videos of child pornography between April 2021 and January 2024.
Image: NPA Communications.

A 32-year-old Mitchells Plain man was denied bail on Tuesday because the court found his own two minor children needed to be protected from him. 

Sannon Angelo Manuel is charged with child grooming, illegal possession of child pornography, illegal distribution of child pornography and unlawful manufacture of child pornography.

Manuel was arrested on January 19 after police received a tip-off from US Homeland Security about him allegedly being part of an international syndicate which groomed children and manufactured and distributed child pornography.

He was identified as a user of a social media platform in which he allegedly accessed child sexual abuse material images, whereby he accumulated his child pornography collection.

“Out of the operation, 27 targets in the country were identified and four targets in the Western Cape were all arrested and have appeared before courts,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said.

Ntabazalila said preliminary forensic investigation indicated Manuel allegedly amassed a collection of 115,000 images and 20,000 videos of child pornography between April 12 2021 and January 19 this year.

In his Schedule 6 bail application before the Mitchells Plain magistrate's court, where he was expected to show that there were exceptional circumstances which justified his release on bail, Manuel told the court he was a breadwinner who supported his wife, two minor children, his father and sister.

Manuel said he was in good health but it was likely to deteriorate as Pollsmoor Prison was filthy and overcrowded, with poor ventilation.

Senior state advocate Evadne Kortje told the court that preliminary forensic analysis revealed Manuel transformed from an ardent child pornography collector to a child pornography creator. The state said Manuel allegedly used the highly deceptive and skilled method of “phishing” to select and recruit his unsuspecting minor victims. 

Kortje called investigating officers, Capt Shaun van der Heever and W/O Barnard, who testified that so they had so far identified two minor victims aged 12 and 14 from Goodwood and Milnerton. Two other victims had not yet been identified. 

Western Cape director of public prosecutions Nicolette Bell applauded the outcome of all the bail applications in the cases of Garth van West (Worcester magistrate’s court), Corne van Rooyen (Bluedowns magistrate’s court), Kayden Elliot (Mossel Bay magistrate’s court) and Manuel as they indicated the state’s zero tolerance towards the crimes they have allegedly committed. 

 TimesLIVE 


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