Cape Town – Tiona Moodley, the co-accused and girlfriend of alleged child pornography kingpin Darren Wilken, is set to appeal her denied bail application in court.
Moodley was arrested on January 17 during a police raid on a Midrand property linked to Wilken.
The operation, which led to Wilken’s arrest a week prior, resulted in the seizure of a massive cache of over 10 million images and videos as evidence.
Moodley was subsequently implicated in the case for her alleged active involvement in the network.
She claimed that her boyfriend was controlling her and manipulating her during the entirety of the relationship and denied being involved in the illegal operation.
The couple who has since been found guilty of multiple charges, made a brief court appearance at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday – their first since June.
#NDABANEWS: MIDRAND COUPLE APPEARED IN COURT ON CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION CHARGES
RANDBURG – A Midrand couple, Daren Wilken and Tiona Moodley, appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court facing charges related to child sexual exploitation.
The pair was arrested earlier this… pic.twitter.com/x8v0D1WFIA
— Thulani Ndaba (@tndaba) September 16, 2025
Her legal appeal against the bail application will be heard at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
According to the Citizen, during the Tuesday proceedings, the state confirmed it had been served with a notice of bail appeal for Moodley, who works as a web designer.
“The registrar informed us, and we will, therefore, be dealing with the bail appeal in the high court prior to serving the indictment”, said state prosecutor Colleen Ryan.
She confirmed that the investigation had been finalised and that the state was preparing the indictment.
A Midrand couple accused of sexual violation by using pictures of children for pornography – will appear in the Randburg Magistrates Court today.
#DarenWilken and #TionaMoodley face several charges including manufacturing and distributing child pornography, possession of drugs… pic.twitter.com/R7tizmGAG6— Kaya News (@KayaNews) September 16, 2025
“The indictment is quite a lengthy one due to the severity of the charges and the amount of charges that the accused will be facing in the high court.
“So we are currently in the process of drafting the indictment, however, it would be nonsensical for us to proceed to serve the accused and transfer them prior to bail issues being dealt,” said Ryan.
The matter has been postponed to 22 October between the state and the defence.
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Compiled by Anda Tolibadi
