Alleged international child porn ring kingpin to appear in court

Women &  Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) will on Tuesday protest outside the Grahamstown Magistrates Court where an alleged kingpin of an international child pornography ring is expected to appear.

WMACA Director Miranda Friedmann said 53-year-old "Antony Evans‚ named already by international media along with others linked to his website‚ was arrested in a joint raid by police and the USA’s FBI".

"Evans pretended to be a teenage girl‚ conning hundreds of child victims into performing sexual acts on themselves‚ which he recorded then streamed over the internet‚" said Friedmann.

The Washington Post reported in March that a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted seven men‚ including Evans‚ for forming an international child pornography ring. The other six live in the US.

The US Attorney’s Office‚ the paper reported‚ said the men created fake profiles on YouTube and video-chatting site Chateen to meet children who would then be directed to two websites they had set up‚ on which the sex acts were allegedly recorded and shared.

While Friedmann said that "WMACA demands that Evans be charged for every image he manufactured to ensure a maximum sentence"‚ she also pointed out that Evans faces extradion to the US "where sentencing is much tougher than here".

"The state must severely punish anyone out there viewing‚ possessing‚ distributing and manufacturing images of babies and children being raped‚" said Friedmann.

This‚ she said‚ would serve as a stern warning to other would-be child sexual predators.

"This is a first for our country – the first time the alleged kingpin‚ in other words web administrator‚ has being caught‚" said Friedmann.