Kimberley - A Kimberley woman was left shocked and horrified after she inserted a memory card she picked up into her cellphone only to discover it contained child pornography.
This emerged in the Sexual Offences Court on Wednesday as Danielle van Rooyen took the stand to testify in the case against Willem van der Linde, who is facing charges of possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.
Van der Linde pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Van Rooyen said on Wednesday that she and a friend were drinking at her now ex-boyfriend’s house in March 2017.
She said that her ex-boyfriend and the accused shared the house.
“While we were drinking we invited Van der Linde to join us, which he did. After talking and listening to music for a while, my friend and I decided to go out. On our return I realised my cellphone was not where I had left it.
“Yes, I know I was drunk at the time but I remember leaving it on the table in the lounge.”
Van Rooyen said that she went looking for her phone and saw it when she went to the bathroom.
“You have to enter the accused’s bedroom to get to the bathroom. When I went in, I saw my cellphone was lying underneath a pillow next to the accused. I did not retrieve it. I then noticed that there was a memory card lying on the floor. I picked it up and inserted it into my other cellphone.”
She said that when she started browsing through the photos on her phone, she was shocked to see photos of naked young girls and a vagina being penetrated.
After being questioned whether she had only put the memory card into her cellphone or had inserted it into any other device, Van Rooyen said she couldn’t remember.
Van der Linde’s defence advocate, Jesse Clarke, meanwhile raised the issue of the defence’s access to evidence, which he claimed was being withheld by the State after the prosecutor asked for a postponement of the case.
“We have had to prepare blindly every time we have come to court. Van der Linde’s right to a fair trial will also be jeopardised if the case is postponed,” Clarke said.
“We also run the risk of witnesses talking to each other, which will also jeopardise the case.”
The case was postponed on Wednesday for the State to file an application for the photos found on the memory stick to be viewed by Van Rooyen, as well as to give the defence and Van der Linde the opportunity to look at the photos on the memory stick.