Durban actor pleads guilty to child pornography charge

Durban entertainer Anthony Stonier has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

He will be sentenced later this month.

Stonier, 60, was arrested at his Glenwood flat in an early morning raid conducted by members of the police’s family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit and the US department of homeland security in April 2024.

Stonier, a well known performer in Durban, particular for his starring roles in the annual adult pantomime, had just returned from a walk when he was nabbed, in full view of patrons of a popular coffee shop below his flat.

He spent about six months in custody before being released on bail in September that year.

According to the charge sheet, he was charged with unlawful possession of child pornography “which advocates or promotes child pornography or sexual exploitation of a child”.

It is believed that police found more than 100 images on his cellular telephone.

His unlawful activity was flagged by a US department which regularly monitors the “deep web”.

In his guilty plea to one count of possession of child pornography, which came before regional court magistrate Mayne Mewalal, sitting in the specialised sex offences court, on Tuesday, Stonier said in 2022 he had suffered from acute depression because of a break down with his “life partner” — who he declined to name — who had subsequently died.

He said while he was gay, they had an “extraordinary bond” which was expected to last into their old age.

Before the breakdown of their relationship, at her instigation, he had begun taking antidepressants and a bipolar and epileptic medication which had altered his state of mind.

He said she had then caused him to be “evicted from our common home and thrown into the street”.

It became intolerable for me to reside in lodges and temporary accommodation, and during this period I formed a relationship with some very unsavoury persons who took advantage of my depressive state of mind

—  Durban entertainer Anthony Stonier

“It became intolerable for me to reside in lodges and temporary accommodation, and during this period I formed a relationship with some very unsavoury persons who took advantage of my depressive state of mind and introduced me to drugs like cocaine and crystal meth, which I eventually became addicted to,” he said.

He said in the latter part of 2022 he had an online conversation with someone named Visagie.

“We would chat generally, and in our conversations the idea of sexual innuendos were expressed,” he said. It was Visagie who had forwarded him a series of pictures depicting child pornography on his cellphone.

He said he had only viewed them “fleetingly” because they were not “appealing to my preference of sexuality”.

He said, “for some unfathomable reason I did not delete them immediately”. But he did not disseminate them to anyone else.

“I subsequently changed my device, and during this process the content transferred to my computer and to the storage on his new device.

“I had completely forgotten about the offending content,” he said.

He said after his arrest, the offending content was retrieved by a SAPS forensic information technologist and he did not dispute the state’s expert report.

The Visagie mentioned by Stonier was arrested in November 2023 on child pornography charges. He pleaded guilty to 900 counts and was sentenced to 10 years in jail, five suspended.

Stonier remains on bail and will be back in court on May 25 and May 28 for sentencing.

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