AS Mzansi marked the start of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children on Saturday, 25 November, the demon that is gender-based violence (GBV) continues to cast its shadow over the country.
The SAPS highligted the work of its detectives who through their investigations seek to ensure justice for millions of GBVF survivors.
They released a statement introducing Captain Bez Bezuidenhout whose work has helped to fight GBV.
His recent investigation led to the sentencing of an online child sexual predator.
According to national police spokeswoman Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, in October 2023 Bezuidenhout and his team from the serial and electronic investigations unit in the Free State successfully ensured that Mario Guisti (36) was handed down 6 548 years in prison for rape, creation of child pornography, possessing and downloading child pornography, causing a child to be present in an act of self-masturbation and human trafficking.
Mathe said Guisti, a computer programmer by profession, had been befriending and targeting boys between the ages of eight and 10 years old for the sole purpose of feeding his sexual desires of creating child pornography and performing sexual acts on young boys.
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“The suspect was traced to Welkom and arrested by Captain Bezuidenhout and his team in August 2022. The team of detectives had been following up on information that alerted police to an online user who had been uploading child sexual assault material (CSAM),” she said.
Mathe said in the same month of October, Bezuidenhout also led the conviction of a 60-year-old African man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his 10-year-old niece, whom he raped and performed sexual acts on.
“The man was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of creating child pornography with his 10-year-old niece, where he would instruct her on video what acts to do. The video evidence led to the suspect pleading guilty,” she said.
She said Bezuidenhout forms part of the serial and electronic investigations unit that has identified 27 active online child sexual predators in the country. The first four have already been arrested in Gauteng and in KZN in the past three weeks.
Captain Bezuidenhout said parents should monitor their children’s devices such as tablets and phones on a daily basis.
