Eleven women and a one man arrested on Thursday night over allegation of engaging in pornography in a posh apartment in Nyali area, Mombasa, have been released on bond.
Appearing before Shanzu Principal Margistrate Florence Macharia on Tuesday afternoon, they all denied the charges of shooting pornography videos at Simba Estate House in Nyali, Mombasa county.
The two main suspects, a woman identified as Merceline Atieno and a man identified as Enock Ochieng, were each charged with an additional charge of earning a living through proceeds of prostitution.
Atieno is believed to the proprietor of the online pornography business.
According to the police, she runs an online webcam platform called “Chat Bate” in conjunction with an international media company registered as Multi Media LLC.
The two main suspects also denied the additional charges.
“The first and the last accused person (Atieno and Ochieng) will be released on Sh100,000 bond with the same amount of surety or Sh50,000 cash bail,” said the Margistrate.
She added that the other remaining suspects will be released on Sh50,000 bond or Sh20,000 cash bail.
Macharia said the case will be mentioned on July 30, while hearing of the matter has been set for November 25.
According to the police, during the arrest, they recovered 16 laptops, several cameras, mobile phones, flash disk and several artificial penises suspected to be used in publishing obscene materials.
Last Friday, police were granted five more days to conclude their investigation, arguing that the suspects might interfere with the investigation if released on bond.
“The suspect might log in into their accounts and erase the crucial evidence. The exhibits recovered also need to be taken to cyber crime unit at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi for analysis,” argued the police.
The police are now also pursuing two Americans believed to be part of the syndicate.
