A 35-year-old Heidelberg lawyer accused of buying a 13-year-old girl from her mother was “in a relationship” with the minor, the court heard.

This was stated by Barrister Harold Davids, the 38-year-old mother’s lawyer (one of the accused) when she appeared alongside two defendants, the lawyer, in a superior court sitting at Palm Ridge Magistrates Court for the start of the trial them today. (October 29).

The pair face a barrage of charges related to human trafficking, sex crimes and kidnapping, child sexual exploitation, child pornography and rape. The victim in the case involving the lawyer is the woman’s daughter, now 15 years old.

The offenses took place in Ekurhuleni (Boksburg, Heidelberg, Brakpan, Springs) as well as Villiers, Amanzimtoti and Ramsgate between mid-2022 and early 2023.
Work continues tomorrow (October 30).

The lawyer was granted bail of R20 000 at the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on April 24 last year. The mother remains in preventive detention.