New child porn probe into prominent law professor
The NPA has instructed police to conduct further investigations into the allegations of child pornography against UCT law Professor Pierre de Vos, reports News24.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali, said: ‘I confirm that the NPA requested SAPS to conduct further investigations. The allegations came after De Vos tweeted a video on his X account of a clip of alleged child pornography. De Vos has consistently stated that his X account was hacked. Based on this, the NPA decided that the criminal case had no chance of success.
However, AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit's representations then made representations to the NPA where it allegedly identified numerous investigative failures.
The unit’s spokesperson Barry Bateman said the police docket contained only two statements: the statement of the complainant, who was an AfriForum Youth representative at the time, and an unsigned statement from De Vos.
‘Among the investigation's shortcomings, the unit noted that the police did not obtain De Vos's cellphone data, mobile service provider records, ISP records, social media records, statements from several people, including the “technical expert” he claims to have consulted, and expert analysis of all this data and information,’ he said.
According to Bateman, the DPP in the Eastern Cape, Advocate Indra Goberdan, said they instructed police to ‘comply with outstanding investigations, and the relevant prosecutors have been requested to provide reports in respect of the decision that was taken’.
Approached for comment, De Vos said: ‘I can only hope that the SAPS will complete yet another investigation into these false allegations speedily so that this matter can be put to rest once and for all.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
