Gerhard Ackerman. Picture: Itumeleng English, African News Agency (ANA)
JUDGMENT against Gerhard Ackerman, who is accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage boys, is expected to take place on Monday.
The judge presiding over the case reported that he was ill and would not be able to read out the judgment. According to reports, the judgment would be read over two days next week.
Ackerman faces more than 740 counts of crime, including rape, attempted murder, the production and distribution of child pornography and human trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ackerman was charged alongside acting judge and senior advocate Paul Kennedy for allegedly running the human trafficking ring between September 2020 and July 2021. Kennedy has since committed suicide.
The men were charged with sexually grooming children, being in possession of child pornography, creating child pornography, committing rape, sexual assault, compelled rape, compelled sexual assault, human trafficking, sexually grooming children and benefiting from sexually exploiting children.
Ackerman was previously arrested for allegedly assaulting an 11-year-old boy. He was granted bail in that case.
In January, Ackerman dodged his court appearance, and thanks to the media he was traced to Florida in Gauteng, where he was duly arrested.
Luke Lamprecht of Women and Men Against Child Abuse told eNCA that they are hoping Ackerman will be given a life sentence as this will impact his parole application at a later stage.