"YOU are evil. In the future you should never be allowed around children."
These were the words of Judge Ismail Mahomed of the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg before handing down a sentence to convicted child sex trafficker and rapist Gerhard Ackerman.
On Monday, 14 August Ackerman was sentenced to 12 life sentences for the rape and trafficking of minors.
This was after he was found guilty on more than 723 charges relating to a child sex trafficking ring.
- Human trafficking,
- sexual exploitation of minors,
- hundreds of counts of possession of child pornography,
- creating child pornography,
- sexual grooming of minors and
- exposing himself to children.
During his trial, which started in January 2023, the court heard that Ackerman ran a child sex abuse ring in which he sought out young teenage boys from poor and troubled families on social media.
The boys were aged between 14 and 16. He then would then gain their trust and offer them work at his beauty massage parlour in northern Joburg.
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Ackerman would arrange appointments for older men who were his clients to receive massages involving sexual experiences with teenagers as the masseurs.
The court also heard that he sent one of the boys to a client knowing very well that the client was HIV positive.
Ackerman was charged alongside a well-known advocate and acting judge, Paul Kennedy, who committed suicide late in 2022 before the trial started.
Delivering his sentence, Mahomed said the 12-life sentences would run concurrently, which means he would serve one life term.
He also declared Ackerman unfit to work near children in future.
After the sentence was handed down, Ackerman fired his legal representation and requested for a retrial.
The judge told Ackerman to file his motion for a retrial with the court and state by 15 November and the motion for retrial would be heard on 30 November.
The state said they would oppose the retrial, so to avoid putting the children in a spot where they will be forced to relive the traumatic experience of telling their stories again.
