PLETTENBERG BAY - PAEDOPHILE GETS 10 YEAR SENTENCE AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO 18644 COUNTS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

The jail sentence of a convicted Plettenberg Bay paedophile was reduced in the Western Cape High Court yesterday from 15 to 10 years.

This followed the successful appeal of computer engineer William Alexander Beale against the sentence he received in George Regional Court in 2017 after he pleaded guilty to 18644 counts of child pornography.

The judgment read: “The magistrate recorded the images and videos viewed were horrific and gruesome, degrading and disgustinge, depicting images where babies, toddlers and teenagers are raped, sexually abused and bonded. We did not view the images, but relying on the descriptions in the files many images and videos can only be described as abhorrent, shocking and disgusting

Now in his early forties, Beale “carefully planned the offences he intended to commit. He did not inadvertently stumble on child pornography. He regarded the downloading from the ‘dark web’ of the pornographic images as a challenge and appeared to be proud of the fact that he was able to access locked sites, which he could only do by himself rst supplying images of a shocking nature, to show that he could be trusted.

“He was candid in admitting he searched for content of a sexually violent, shocking nature.”

The judges were concerned Beale showed no empathy or sympathy, “indicating a lack of insight or remorse in the abhorrent nature of his conduct. He agreed that he was addicted to viewing the downloaded images and sometimes he spent up to eight hours at a time viewing. He stated he knows that he is supposed to feel bad, but he does not. It was recorded that he did not think therapy would cure him.”

What tipped the scales in Beale’s favour were his personal circumstances and the fact that he was not convicted of manufacturing child pornography or molesting children, but of the lesser crime of possession.

Nevertheless, this was not considered a mitigating factor, cautioned the judges.

“Every image contained in child pornography reflects abhorrent prohibited sexual conduct, often including violence, involving children.

“Every image reflects the sexual violation of and the impairment of the dignity of a child, every time that it is viewed. As argued, children, including babies and toddlers, are the unidentified, voiceless victims of child pornography.

“It cannot be disputed that these victims will bear the emotional scars of their abuse for life.”

Despite Beale’s “heinous despicable crime that has resulted in public outrage”, Judge Elize Steyn and acting Judge Fred Sievers concluded a “more appropriate” sentence was warranted.

Their decision was reached “after a thorough consideration of the facts and the sentences imposed in comparable matters, the facts in the present matter, including the seriousness of the crimes, the appellant’s personal circumstances, the purposes of sentence, the balance of mitigating and aggravating circumstances, an element of mercy, in view of the history of abuse suffered by the appellant in his younger days, as well as the interests of the community and ultimately the interests of children”.

via - IOL