Plettenberg bay paedophile to appeal 15-year sentence
CAPE TOWN – A Plettenberg Bay computer engineer is on Friday morning expected to appeal his 15-year sentence about a year after he was convicted on more than 18,000 charges related to the possession of child pornography.
William Beale was sentenced in the Thembalethu Regional Court in George in November 2017.
The appeal will be heard in the Western Cape High Court.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it will strongly oppose Plettenberg Bay paedophile Beale’s appeal.
The computer engineer was sentenced to 15 years in jail after he was convicted on 18,644 charges related to the possession of child pornography.
Beale was arrested in January 2015, as part of a crackdown on an international child pornography syndicate by Belgian and South African police.
He was the first South African to be arrested as part of an international investigation called “Operation Cloud 9”.
The operation cracked down on a global child pornography syndicate that was linked to cyber meeting space for paedophiles.