“Child-porn ruling fury” (The Times , 02/06/2010, p.1) was selected as a MAD OAT Glad for its critical reporting of a suspended sentence, handed down to a paedophile who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

The article was given prominence on the first page of The Times. This was an impressive effort by the newspaper to raise awareness of the issue, especially when South Africans are caught up in the excitement of the World Cup.

The article reported on a wrestling coach in Pretoria who appeared in court after he was arrested in May last year. Hundreds of child pornography images were discovered on his computer. The wrestling coach was given a five-year suspended sentence by a magistrate who, according to the article, “refused to look at the graphic images involving children as young as one year old that were entered into evidence”.

The reporter quoted a number of expert sources who strongly condemned the sentence and child-pornography. An expert from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s sexual offences and child abuse unit was quoted, saying “it’s high time that people realise that a child-porn picture is a record of abuse of that child. That is why we put legislation in place. It is an important piece of legislation to protect children.”

Another source from a childrens’ rights group said that she was “…absolutely appalled. This puts more children at risk. The system has raped the children.”

The reporter, Harriet McLea, is commended for accessing experts who made it clear that child pornography is a form child abuse and should be more severely punished. And with the prominence given to the article, Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) hopes that everyone who read the paper got the message.