By Neelam Rahim

A Benoni man has been doomed to two life terms and a further 83 years imprisonment after he contended guilty to violating his children and using them for pornography, among the 426 charges against him.

The national prosecuting authority said the man committed these offences against his two stepsons and daughter between 2012 and 2021.

He was charged with, among others, two counts of rape, two counts of using a child for pornography, three counts of creation or product of child pornography, 407 counts of the possession of child pornography, and two counts of attempted compelled rape, and two counts of sexual assault.

“At the time of the incidents, the boys were between 6 and 14, and the daughter was seven months old until she was eight years old,” said NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.

She said the man, who was sentenced on Thursday, committed the offences at their home when the children’s mother was at work.

Mahanjana said when the father was at work, “he would frequently ask the minor boys to take pictures of their family’s private parts and transfer them to him for his pleasure.”

She said he’d remained in keeping since his arrest last February after one of the children commended a relative, and the matter was also reported to the police.