Couple accused of selling child sexual abuse material denied bail

Darren Wilken, 34, and Tiona Megan Moodley, 25, would have remained “unseen predators” for a long time and were conducting a thriving business selling child abuse material, living a lavish lifestyle, the Randburg magistrate’s court has heard. 

The couple, who were arrested last month, were denied bail by the court on Friday.

Delivering her judgment on the couple’s bail application, magistrate Pravina Rughoonandan said they would have remained “unseen” were it not for US authorities’ collaboration with the South African police. 

The court found the pair had failed to show on a balance of probability that circumstances could exist in the interest of justice that warranted them being released on bail.

Their case was remanded to March 24 for further investigation.

The two are facing multiple charges including possession, creation and distribution of child pornography, and contravention of the Drug Trafficking Act.

They are also facing multiple counts of money laundering, acquisition and possession of proceeds from unlawful activities, possession of stolen property and fraud.

Rughoonandan said there was a likelihood the two would endanger public safety, given evidence of their past conduct and possession of pornographic material which was made available and sold to the public. 

She also noted that more than 10-million videos and images had been counted thus far, which would lead to a long-term interaction and could be an incentive to evade trial. 

“Also, the applicants’ financial resources to evade trial: there is evidence from the fact that there was R647,303 cash that was found on the premises and that excludes funds from the bank card.

“The applicants also use cryptocurrency and bitcoin accounts to which they currently do not have access. The state has a strong case against the applicants.”

Rughoonandan found that the nature of the offences and the circumstances under which the offences were committed were likely to induce a sense of shock or outrage in the community where the offences were committed, not only locally but also internationally.

“The court finds that the sense of peace and security among members of the public, both local and international, will be undermined and jeopardise public confidence in the criminal justice system, including internationally.”

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