A confession made by a Windhoek resident accused of sexually abusing teenage boys and using them to make pornographic material may be used as evidence in his trial.
This was decided by judge Philanda Christiaan in a ruling delivered in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Christiaan ruled that a confession made by Johann Maree (53) to a magistrate in Windhoek on 3 June 2020 is admissible as evidence in his trial.
Maree claimed his rights were not properly explained to him before he made the statement, and that he was assaulted and threatened by police officers.
He also claimed that two police officers made up the contents of the statement and instructed him to repeat that to the magistrate, while promising him he would be granted bail afterwards.
In her ruling, Christiaan said Maree was not truthful when he claimed he was assaulted.
He had an opportunity to inform the magistrate that he had been assaulted, but did not do that, the judge noted.
She also found that the magistrate who recorded Maree's statement explained his rights to him, before he elected to make the statement.
Maree is being prosecuted on 74 charges, including 24 counts of rape, 10 counts of using a child to create pornography, 18 counts of child trafficking, five charges of committing an indecent act with a child under the age of 16, 13 counts of encouraging or allowing a child under the age of 16 to drink liquor, and a charge of money laundering.
The charges involve 15 underage boys.
The state is alleging that 13 of the boys were raped or indecently assaulted by Maree during the period from 2014 to April 2020 and that he also used 10 of the boys to make pornographic material.
Maree, who was self-employed as a photographer and videographer, allegedly sold the pornographic material to buyers outside Namibia.
According to the state, Maree received payments totalling about N$77 000 from nine buyers, based in the United States, The Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Australia, from December 2015 to February 2020.
He was arrested and charged at the end of April 2020, following an investigation prompted by a request from the police in The Netherlands for assistance from the Namibian Police.
Maree pleaded not guilty on all of the charges when his trial commenced in March.
None of the complainants alleged to have been sexually abused by Maree has testified thus far during his trial.
The trial is scheduled to continue on 4 November, when the magistrate who recorded Maree's confession is expected to testify.
Maree is being held in custody. He is not represented by a defence lawyer at this stage.
State advocate Palmer Kumalo is prosecuting.