A 28-year-old South African resident was arrested for allegedly locking 12 Zimbabwean boys between the ages of 14 and 16 years in a hotel room and forcing them to undress and performing sex acts, while he abused them live on camera.
The suspect, Tyron Ken Errol Naylor, then allegedly bought bicycles for his victims as payment for their services and as a way of silencing them.
It allegedly occurred at Mwenezi, outside Beit Bridge, over a period stretching from March to the end of July this year. Naylor, who was employed by the Zimbabwe Bio-energy company as production manager, allegedly invited the boys and took them to a hotel in Mwenezi.
A fortnight ago, Naylor appeared before Magistrate Stanford Mambanje, facing a count of aggravated indecent assault and another of indecent assault.
The matter came to light on the day the boys collected their bicycles from Naylor and some of their parents had enquired as to how they got the bikes. The parents pressed the boys to reveal why Naylor had given them the bicycles and they said he was thanking them for what he had done to them, leading to Naylor's arrest.
The case was postponed to August 26, and he was granted US$ 100 bail.
He was also ordered to surrender his South African passport as part of the bail conditions, since it was felt he was likely to abscond to his country. He was working in Zimbabwe on a work permit.
ALL CHARGES DROPPED
In an article that appeared in The Herald Online on 12 February 2012 the final outcome of the court case is reflected. Mr Naylor was acquitted on all charges due to a complete lack of evidence. Among others, the magistrate pointed out that there were inconsistencies in the evidence.
Click Here to read the report in The Herald Online.