Russian national Alexander Krylof testified this week in his own defence after Acting Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen ordered that he and his Namibian counterpart Anna Katrina Engelbrecht must answer the 42 counts of rape and child trafficking, in addition to a charge of supplying minors with cigarettes.
The two accused earlier applied for a section 174 discharge, saying the State did not prove its case. However, Claasen dismissed that application.
According to Krylof (58), he never initiated the sexual encounters, but the one he first met (X) through his co-accused, initiated the encounters and brought the other girls with her. The alleged victims cannot be named as they were under-age at the time of the incidents. He further said the girls knew what was expected of them, and that X showed them what to do. He always paid them each N$100 after the encounters, he stated. “I used to lend out money to people, and then had to run after them to pay me back. I then decided not to lend out money again, but to have people work for the money,” he told the judge.
“That’s what I told the girls because they came to me for money, and I told them I do not hand out money for free”.
While the girls were skinny and small in stature, he was assured by them that they were of consenting age, he further informed the court.
Krylof is facing 26 counts of rape and Engelbrecht (30) five, alternatively having intercourse with a minor, while both are facing 11 counts each of trafficking in children.
Both accused pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial.
Engelbrecht, who reportedly was in a relationship with Krylof, allegedly recruited the five victims, aged between 15 and 16, for Krylof, and took them to him for alleged sexual intercourse.
The accused is a marine pilot at Namport, and was apparently out at sea while the case was being investigated before his arrest.
It is alleged that he committed the sexual acts with the five girls from 2016 until June 2017.
Three of the victims are pupils at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay schools, while two are school dropouts.
Krylof, also known as Sir Alex, was arrested in October 2017 at Walvis Bay after a month-long investigation was launched by the Namibian Police.
His alleged sexual crimes came to light in September after a parent of one of the minors noticed that her daughter had been going missing for several days without a valid explanation. Both Krylof and Engelbrecht are free on warning. They are represented by Illeni Velikoshi, and the State by Palmer Khumalo.