(a)has in the person’s possession or has gained access to child abuse material; and
Section history
Section 377BK — Possession of or gaining access to child abuse material
As in force on 1 April 2022.
Timeline 2 versions
- 1 January 2020 Act 15 of 2019
- 1 April 2022 You are here
- 17 August 2026 Latest
(1)Any person shall be guilty of an offence who —
(b)knows or has reason to believe that the material is child abuse material.
(2)A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (1) —
(a)a person has in the person’s possession child abuse material that is electronic material if the person controls access to the material whether or not the person has physical possession of the electronic material; and
(b)the ways in which a person gains access to material may include viewing material or displaying material by an electronic medium or any other output of the material by an electronic medium.
Illustration
Y has an online storage account for electronic material accessible with a username and password. Y has control of what is stored in the account and can upload to, copy from or delete material from the account. Y has an electronic folder in the account to which Y uploads and stores electronic child abuse material. Y has in his possession child abuse material.