Porn website administrator accused of ‘sextortion’ granted bail
The administrator of a pornography website who was arrested for sexual extortion has been granted bail by the Accra Circuit Court.
The court presided over by Susana Eduful on Wednesday granted Anderson Ofosu Hene Amin bail in the sum of GHc300,000 with two sureties with properties registered with either one or both names.
The documents are to be deposited at the courts registry.
He was granted bail after the prosecution team led by Inspector Princess Tetteh Boafo told the court that the dockets of the accused person has been forwarded to the office of the Attorney General.
The prosecution asked for more time pending the AG’s advice.
Meanwhile, the court is yet to take the plea of the accused person but he is currently being charged with the offence of obscenity, child pornography, extortion and money laundering.
But pending the advice from the Attorney General’s office, his charges may be increased or decreased. He is to reappear on October 12, 2020.
Background
The Administrator of Empressleak website was arrested for illegally publishing nude pictures and videos without the express permission of the owners.
The 35-year-old suspect, Anderson Ofosu Hene Amin, popularly known as Mario G, was arrested at his hideout in the Eastern Region.
His arrest follows a report made by a senior high school student on January 6, 2020 to the Cyber Crime Unit that her nude picture was published without her consent.
This was made known at a joint press briefing organised by the Ghana Police Service and the Ministry of Communications.
The Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, explained that the website in question has been noted for publishing child pornographic content for the past six years.
“Available evidence including witness statement showed that the website has been demanding money from unsuspecting victims before their content is pulled down.
“Analysis conducted by the National Cyber Crime Centre has revealed that the website has about 600,000 viewers monthly in Ghana, Nigeria, and the United States.
“On January 6, this year, the computer emergency response team of the cyber security agency received a report which led to his arrest on July 31,” she indicated.
The sector minister noted that the issue of sexual extortion, now known as ‘sextortion’ has become a common practice in the country.
Anderson Ofosu Hene Amin has since been charged with the offence of obscenity, child pornography, extortion of money and money laundering.
The publication of child pornographic content constitute a criminal offence and perpetrators are liable currently under section 136 of the electronic transaction Act. 772, which states that a person who intentionally does any of the following acts:
a. Publishes child pornography through a computer
b. Produces or procures child pornographic for the purpose of its publication through a computer system
c. Possessing child child pornography on a computer system or electronic medium commits an offence