Explicit text messages reveal how child sex ring kingpin 'marketed' victims

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS REFERENCES OF A STRONG SEXUAL NATURE. 

The high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday heard of explicit text messages between the operator of an alleged child sex ring syndicate, Gerhard Ackerman, and human rights advocate and acting judge Paul Kennedy.  

At the time the messages were sent, Kennedy  was bedridden with Covid-19.

Ackerman ran a massage parlour where clients would allegedly pay for massages with sexual experiences, with Kennedy being one of his clients. 

Ackerman faces charges of 740 counts of rape, sex trafficking, production and distribution of child porn, and attempted murder. 

While Kennedy was a co-accused in the matter, he died reportedly from suicide while on bail before the start of the trial. 

In one message to Ackerman, Kennedy was extremely sexual in his description of a victim who the state referred to as G. In his message, Kennedy described the child's private parts, adding that they were “great”  for a 14-year-old. 

This piece of evidence allowed state advocate Valencia Dube to poke holes in Ackerman's previous statements in which he informed the court that he never groomed minors into performing sexual activities for clients and that all the teenagers he employed were above the age of 16, the legal age of consent for sexual acts in South Africa.

Ackerman also disputed he groomed any of the teens, saying he merely taught them how to be masseuses. 

“The only thing I did was train them. I asked them if they knew how to give a 'happy ending' and they all knew how to — there is not training needed for that. I always told the masseuses, 'don't do anything you don't want to do with a client',” he said.

Throughout cross-examination Ackerman emphasised he in no way exploited the teenagers but was rather “helping them”.

“I've always been a person to help someone. I know what it feels like to not have money or a cellphone. My objective was to always help these children.” 

The court later heard that after being discharged from hospital, Kennedy revealed to Ackerman that he had been diagnosed with HIV.  Ackerman assured him he would be OK and that he should continue to live his life. 

Ackerman disputed that whatever sexual acts happened between the masseuse and the client was between them. Such acts would include oral sex.

Ackerman's defence that he would not sexually groom the teenagers brought into question when a voice note was played in court. 

In the voice note Ackerman can be heard saying to a client: “I've got two boys, both of them 16 and both extremely hot. Both for BJ and rimming. The first boy is R1,200 and R2,000 for both boys.” 

According to the state one of the boys referred to in the voice note was TW. 

Ackerman confirmed it was his voice and that the message had been sent to a client but disputed that TW, who was 15 at the time, was the boy in question. 

He maintained a sloppy posture during his testimony, often slouching in the witness box in an oversized grey jacket with his legs either crossed or his hands resting between his legs. 

Judge Ismail Mahomed, who questioned Ackerman on points of clarity, often in disbelief, said Ackerman was a good salesman. 

“It seems like you were a good salesman. You were giving a description of the human anatomy — it was like a sale pitch to your client,” he said.

In another WhatsApp conversation with someone named “Cum Eds”, Ackerman went into explicit details of one of the masseuses' private parts — referring to it as “thick”.

He continued by asking the client if “he wanted bottom”, which Ackerman explained to the court entailed a person receiving a penis in their anus. He claimed that conversation was the only time he offered his masseuses to a client for sex. 

Ackerman further revealed that he would avoid revealing his age to potential masseuses.

He confirmed he had sex with two of his masseuses — both over 16 — and it was a rare occasion in which he committed such acts with his masseuses. 

Evidence downloaded from Ackerman's laptop and cellphone included explicit images and videos of children, some as young as six, committing sexual acts. 

A deafening silence fell over the court when Dube revealed that on Ackerman's laptop investigators found a photo of a baby — aged less than six months old — with no teeth and with a penis in his mouth. 

Ackerman claimed he had no knowledge of the photo, saying his masseuses would often use his phone and laptop and perhaps the photo was theirs. 

The court disputed this, adding that he was responsible for his own phone and laptop. 

The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, when the state will continue with the cross-examination of Ackerman. 

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