Two South African men are facing serious child porn charges in the United States following separate investigations in Ohio and Oklahoma.
One of the cases involves a 28-year-old Arno Andries Francois Venter, who was arrested in North Olmsted in Ohio on 16 October.
His arrest follows a sting operation by an online vigilante group known as “Predator Poachers”. The operation was recorded and shared on social media.
In the video, Venter was approached by members of the group while working at a Walmart in the area, wearing an “Arno”-titled name tag.
DROVE ALL NIGHT LONG on no sleep to catch South African refugee Arno Venter in North Olmstead, Ohio. https://t.co/xpFHEj9Odj
— Predator Poachers (@PPoachersLIVE) October 19, 2026
Venter has been in the US since 16 June 2026, with reports describing him as a South African refugee. According to the Daily Maverick, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Venter on 11 counts, “including five counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, five counts relating to the illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, and one count of possessing criminal tools” on 21 October.
Venter could face up to 85 years in prison if convicted.
At the same time, another South African, identified as Vico Du Toit, was also recently arrested in Oklahoma over the alleged possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
According to the Grady County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation followed a tip-off from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators allegedly traced uploads to a computer in the Dibble area.
Sheriff Gary Boggess said Du Toit, who is in the US on a work visa, admitted uploading and posting the material through his account on a messaging app known as “Kik”.
“During the course of the investigation Dutoit admitted to uploading and posting Child pornography from his Kik account. Dutoit was arrested on 8 counts of Communicates with, stores data in, or retrieve data from a computer system for the purpose of violating provisions of the Oklahoma Statutes and Possession of Child Pornography and transported to the Grady County Jail,” read the Sheriff’s Office statement.
According to the SABC, Du Toit is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing conference on 4 November.
