A 55-year-old Durban man began serving an effective 10-year prison sentence on Tuesday for possession of about 20,000 images and videos of child pornography.
Gert Harmzen, of Hillary, failed to impress Durban Regional Court magistrate Melanie de Jager with his explanation that he had been sexually abused as a child and was “looking for answers” when he downloaded the images over 12 years.
The magistrate said many were “disgusting” and portrayed children – from infants to teenagers – being raped.
In one the child was tied to a bed. In many, the children appeared to be drugged because they were not responding to the violence being inflicted on them.
She said the images and the videos had titles, “many bearing profound language” and giving the age of the child concerned.
More than 19,000 images and 933 videos of child pornography were discovered on his computer.
In a statement to the court, Harmzen said he was raped at the age of five.
“I asked myself why my parents did not find out what happened to me. Then I thought they were naive, or not good parents. After all these thoughts I decided to find answers about my problems and I decided to download the images.
“I was trying to find peace about my childhood ... I could relate to their pain, trauma and shame.”
In a pre-sentencing report, a probation officer said Harmzen hailed from a warm and loving family and had been named as godfather to many relatives who now reported being “shaken” by his criminal conduct.
He had never married but had been engaged for 20 years.
“He was defined as a Christian with a humble disposition who upholds religious values. One therefore questions what morals were instilled if he downloaded child pornography over a period of 12 years?”
While the probation officer said he had admitted the offence to her and had taken responsibility for what he had done, magistrate De Jager was not convinced.
She said that since his arrest he had not sought any help for his addiction.
Child rights expert Dr Joan van Niekerk testified in aggravation of sentence, saying every single picture Harmzen downloaded was of real children involved in sexual crimes, including bondage and bestiality.
“The creation of these images is a continued abuse of children ... viewers sustain this exploitative market.”
Referring to his claim that he was seeking help for his own abuse, Van Niekerk said she would have expected Harmzen, over the 12 years, to realise that this was not effective and seek other assistance.
The magistrate said the only suitable punishment was a direct term of imprisonment, and sentenced him to 15 years in jail, five of which were suspended. She ordered that his name be added to the national registry of sexual offenders.
Before sentencing, his fiancée – who has not been named – hugged and kissed him as he sat in the dock. Afterwards, they waved to each other as he went down the stairs to the holding cells.