George deputy mayor, Raybin Figland, cleared of sexting charges

George deputy mayor, Raybin Figland, has been cleared of charges of sexting a matric learner.

Figland, a councillor in the Democratic Alliance, was accused of blackmailing a teenage girl into sending nude photographs of herself to him.

According to the GOOD Party's Chantelle Kyd, Figland threatened to tell the girl's parents about her relationship with another boy, if she did not send him the sexual images.

"The girl in question was traumatised by the events and eventually dropped out of school. Figland, who is married, originally lied to his own party about the relationship with the matriculant but when presented with the evidence was forced to admit to this and other relationships with young people.

“He justified his actions to the party saying they were all 18 years of age or older," she said in a statement issued last month.

The DA's Willie Aucamp said its internal disciplinary process has been wrapped up.

"The DA took the allegations in this matter extremely seriously. The DA Federal Legal Commission conducted a detailed and thorough investigation, over six months, under the leadership of an experienced attorney, to establish any verifiable evidence to substantiate the allegations," Aucamp said.

He said it was factually established that the young woman involved was over the age of 18 at the time the alleged incident occurred, ruling out allegations of criminal liability.

Speaking to IOL, Aucamp said despite repeated efforts to obtain the key witness's testimony, she refused to testify.

"Without her evidence, it was impossible for the panel to convict Cllr Figland in this matter," Aucamp said.

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