Judge Carla Van Veenendal standing in for Judge Cassim Moosa postponed the matter to March 14 for De Villiers to make financial arrangements or apply for legal aid.

His lawyer, Annade Theart, asked to withdraw from the case. She said De Villiers needed two to three months to sort out his finances.

De Villiers told the court that media reports on the case had affected his income.

"I am self-employed and with all the media impact and everything else that's been happening in this case, it has affected my income," De Villiers said.

But the State said two to three months was unreasonable.

Prosecutor Arveena Persad said the trial court had previously granted a postponement in his matter in order for him to raise funds.

Guilty on 32 charges

She said De Villiers' request was a "delay tactic".

On February 8, Judge Moosa found De Villiers guilty on 32 charges, including raping a child, sexual assault, fraud, exposing children to pornography, and accessing child pornography.

Moosa called De Villiers a poor witness and said his version of events had too many contradictions.

De Villiers claimed the State witnesses lied and conspired with M-Net's Carte Blanche to harm his and his agency's reputation.

Moosa said all the evidence presented to the court left him with no other choice but to find De Villiers guilty.

One of the girls testified that De Villiers had asked her to take off her clothes in front of him. He claimed it was a method acting exercise.

De Villiers said he did not stop her from taking off her clothes, as it was sensual and sexy, and he thought she wanted to do it.

-News24.com