A drug-dealing pimp accused of exploiting a teenage girl appeared to be in disbelief when the South Gauteng High Court found him guilty of his crimes on Tuesday.

Dressed in a pink shirt‚ the Nigerian national stretched his neck from side-to-side and cupped his face in his hands as he followed the proceedings through an interpreter.

 The 30-year-old was a lone figure with absolutely no support in court from an empty public gallery.

Judge Majake Mabesele acquitted him of kidnapping‚ child trafficking and rape of his 15-year-old accuser.

 He was however found guilty of sexual exploitation of a child‚ living from the earnings of sexual exploitation‚ accomplice to rape and contravening the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act.

During the course of the trial‚ the court heard how Eke Ugochukwu’s victim landed in his house after she fled from home in Sebokeng‚ Vereeniging‚ following a fight with her mother.

The girl had accompanied her 16-year-old friend to Ugochukwu who the friend claimed was her boyfriend. She later found out that Ugochukwu was in fact her friend’s pimp.

She claimed to have been deserted by her friend at the Rosettenville brothel and kept against her will there with at least three other prostitutes.

But Mabesele found this to be untrue‚ arguing the victim had freedom of movement.

The State‚ however‚ claimed the girl was forced to remain as she was dependent on drugs which she bought from Ugochukwu with the little money she was allowed to keep from her prostitution.

 It was alleged that she charged R50 per client and she would see at least six men a night.

Evidence from the teenager was that the accused as well as all her clients had sex with her without her consent.

The money that both girls made on the streets was handed over to the accused‚ who they knew as Johnny.

She ran away several weeks later to a nearby church where she found help.

Mabesele said he believed that the young girl left the brothel because she was sick and had sores on her body.

“There was no longer business because she was sick‚ ” Mabesele said.

Meanwhile‚ Ugochukwu’s lawyer‚ Sechaba Mokhachane‚ tried to keep his client out of proson following the guilty verdict.

But Mabesele said the convicted pimp had been found guilty of a serious charge and revoked his bail.

Ugochukwu took his cellphone out of his pocket and made a call as he was led to the court cells.

He had admitted to selling drugs to prostitutes but denied giving any to the minor.

He had also denied any involvement in his accusers prostitution business.

 He instead said he chased the girl away from the brothel when he realised that she was a minor.

The case is a first of its kind under the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act‚ 7 of 2013. The Act came into operation on in August 2015.

Before this date‚ there was no separate‚ specific legislation governing this crime in South Africa.

Ugochukwu returns to court on Friday where argument in mitigation of sentence is due to resume. — TMG Digital