Joshlin Smith 'very likely' abused after kidnap, says human trafficking expert

It is highly unlikely that missing child Joshlin Smith did not endure some form of physical or psychological harm after being sold by her mother Kelly.

This was the sobering assessment of an expert in human trafficking, who testified on behalf of the state on Tuesday as sentencing procedures got under way in the kidnapping trial which has gripped the nation.

Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin “Boeta” Appollis and friend Steveno van Rhyn — convicted of kidnapping and trafficking the little girl — will be sentenced on Thursday by the high court sitting in Saldanha Bay.

The trio elected not to testify in their defence.

Arguments in aggravation and mitigation of sentence got under way on Tuesday with the state calling its first witness Dr Marcel van der Watt, an expert on human trafficking based in the US, who testified via Microsoft Teams.

He told the court that according to official police statistics covering the years 2000 to 2020 more than 94,000 adults and children were reported missing in South Africa, and of those 31,545 people remained missing.

In his analysis of the case, Joshlin was sold for the purposes of exploitation by her own mother for financial gain: “This was not a spontaneous act but a calculated crime.”

“The evidence paints a clear picture of deliberate exploitation and co-ordinated effort by the accused, and a breach of societal and legal obligations to safeguard the most vulnerable among us. 

“The victim in this case, six-year-old Joshlin, very likely and plausibly suffered abuse,” he testified.

While these details were unknown because the child had yet to be found, he added: “It is highly unlikely that Joshlin did not endure at least some form of harm. The mention of the physical traits such as her eyes and light coloured skin suggests she may have been subjected to exploitation ...

“It would be disingenuous to assume that she was placed in such a situation merely for admiration,” he said as Smith, wearing a grey hoodie, scratched her nose.

“The evidence relating to ... child abuse paints a grim picture and it is very plausible that Joshlin experienced severe abuse, either physical or psychological harm.

“I’m just thinking, what thoughts might have crossed her mind, as a six-year-old, when she first recognised that something was profoundly wrong ... when she realised this was her fate.”

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