House Helps Linked To Child Porn Syndicate

Police in Mombasa have launched investigations into the activities of an international syndicate said to be promoting and trading in child pornography.

The cabal, working with rogue house helps, reportedly cashes in on video clips of children being sexually abused.

The crackdown follows the arrest of a domestic worker who filmed herself having sex with a four-year-old boy. She then sold the clip to the syndicate.

The domestic worker appeared at a Shanzu court where she pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the child.

According to the prosecution, the 21-year-old woman sexually abused the boy and intentionally and unlawfully produced an audio-visual material of herself committing the crime.

She is helping Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit officers to identify the people behind the trade.

Coast Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit head, Andrew Warui, said the house help was arrested following a three-month investigation.

Mr Warui said the unit is investigating several cases of children being sexually abused by their caregivers and videos distributed through online platforms.

Sexually abused

“We are following up on such cases in Kilifi and Mombasa, where at least three children are involved. We also want to stop the distribution of such materials,” he said.

The court was told that the house help committed the crimes between June 2020 and October 2021.

She pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the boy and committing an indecent act with a child but denied filming the act when she appeared before Chief Magistrate Florence Macharia.

The prosecution said the woman, who had been hired by the child’s parents, quit her job in October last year.

A few days later, the boy’s mother received a video clip via WhatsApp from a foreign number.

“Upon opening the message, the mother saw the video of the woman sexually abusing the boy,” the prosecution said.

In the clip produced in the Chief Magistrate’s Court as evidence, the woman is seen undressing the child before committing the offence.

After watching the clip, the boy’s mother attempted to reach her but her known mobile numbers had been switched off, the prosecution added.

Demanded money

The child’s mother then shared the video clip with her husband, who reported the matter to the police.

The househelp was arrested and the mobile phone she was using confiscated and forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi.

Forensic analyses showed that she sent a message to the child’s parents asking for an undisclosed amount of money.

“She demanded money from her former employer so as not to post the clips on social media platforms,” the prosecution told the court.

According to police, the video clips had been sent to several foreign numbers and payments received.

Pornographic video

When asked if what had been presented by the prosecution was true, she answered in the affirmative. In her mitigation, she said she had been forced to commit the offence.

She told the court that a friend, only referred to as Joshua and whom she met on Facebook, had promised her an online supermarket job.

She added that Joshua introduced her to another friend who promised to help her out.

“They promised me work but on condition that I make a pornographic video and send it to them,” she said.

She told the court that she rejected the offer but Joshua’s friend, who claimed to be a devil worshipper, threatened to kill her parents if she did not follow his instructions.

“Joshua confirmed to me that his friend was a devil worshipper and had even killed his own parents,” she said.

“I got scared and had to do what he demanded.”

The magistrate ordered a social inquiry report on the woman before her sentencing. She will return to court on February 2.