Cappo Seafoods heir Marcus Cappo pleads guilty to child sexual offences in various SA suburbs
A seafood empire heir who pleaded guilty to a multitude of child sexual offences threatened to release images of his victims if they didn’t do what he said, a court has heard.
Police & Courts
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A junior heir to an SA seafood fortune who has admitted to vile child sexual offences pressured his victims to comply with his demands, a court has heard.
Marcus Carlo Cappo, the great-grandson of the Cappo Seafoods founder, has pleaded guilty to a multitude of charges, including possessing and disseminating child exploitation material and multiple counts of procuring a child for sexual activity.
On Thursday, Andrew Moffa, for Cappo, asked the District Court for an adjournment for sentencing submissions due to issues between the psychological report and the factual basis.
“There needs to be a closer look at the letter of apology (from Cappo),” he said.
Judge Michelle Sutcliffe said she also had concerns after reading the psychological report.
The court heard there were allegations that Cappo threatened to expose some of his victims if they did not comply with his requests.
“In the case of at least one complainant a threat or pressure that if they weren’t forthcoming that other images might be released,” Judge Sutcliffe said.
The court heard a victim in her statement said one of her videos was dispersed around a school.
Mr Moffa said Cappo had an auditory processing disorder and he was bullied at school, leading to him being home schooled at 13.
Mr Moffa said his client was vulnerable, unsophisticated and immature man at the time of the offending.
According to court documents the allegations happened at Pooraka and Greenwith between September 2021 and December 2022.
A single charge of procuring a child for sexual activity carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.
Cappo, 20, of Cheltenham, is a member of the Cappo Seafood family, which has been a mainstay of the Adelaide Central Markets and operated in SA since 1919.
The Cappo family were Italian migrants to Australia where, after arriving, six brothers founded the company at Port Pirie.
Marcus is the great-grandson of Carlo Cappo and son of internationally renowned Cappo Seafoods co-director Matthew Cappo, who is a third-generation owner of the iconic South Australian company.
The seafood giant in 2017 formed a partnership with fellow SA produce mogul Thomas Foods to export seafood to Asia.
There is no suggestion Carlo or Matthew Cappo or Cappo Seafoods are involved in any of Marcus Cappo’s charges.
On Thursday, three victim impact statements were tendered to the court and Cappo’s charges were adjourned until January.
Mr Moffa said he would be calling the psychologist to give evidence.
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