Judge Mahomed Ambivalent has found Gerhard Ackerman guilty of more than 700 charges including rape, attempted kidnapping, sexual exploitation, sexual grooming, and possession of child pornography.
Ackerman appeared at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday where his case was postponed to July 18 for sentencing. He has been remanded in custody.
The trial ran on and off for three months, where prosecutor, advocate Valencia Dube, led the evidence of more than a dozen witnesses and presented evidence contained in WhatsApp conversations and forensic reports on child pornography found on his cellphone and laptop.
“The accused’s evidence was so poor and contradictory, it should be rejected. It is clear he made a living off the sexual exploitation of children,” said Mahomed.
His co-accused and main client Paul Kennedy died by suicide while out on bail in 2022.
Mohamed said Ackerman unlawfully encouraged boys to also perform sexual acts on Kennedy, knowing that he was HIV-positive.
“That he [Kennedy] took his own life is not surprising. He realised the game was up and committed suicide.”
The 52-year-old Ackerman previously told the court that he used to operate a massage parlour where the treatments would end with sexual acts, which he called happy endings.
During the trial, the court heard that Ackerman allegedly abused boys aged between 14 and 16, groomed them, and benefited financially from facilitating their services with clients.
He pleaded not guilty to rape, human trafficking, distribution of child pornography, and sexual assault.
More than 1 000 pornographic images and videos were retrieved from Ackerman’s laptop and a further 600 images were retrieved from his cellphone.
The images include photos of toddlers being raped and performing sexual acts on adults.
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