Cape Town business owner Nico Maré, 50, describes himself as a mediator, dream-maker, photographer and caring father.
But his charge sheet in the Cape Town magistrate’s court paints a picture of a sexual predator behind a camera lens. The model agency owner won his release on bail this week following his arrest on rape and sexual assault charges.
Charges of possession and creation of child pornography may also be added after his electronic devices were seized.
Police arrested Maré, the director of Tariro Model Management, after a 14-year-old accused him of raping her when she went for a photo shoot at his studio in the Cape Town CBD last month.
After his arrest a 15-year-old came forward to accuse him of sexual assault and by Friday two more alleged victims had emerged.
In an affidavit, investigating officer Sgt Graham Davids said the 14-year-old had been dropped off by her mother at Maré’s studio for the shoot.
“During the photo shoot [Maré] took several nude pictures of the complainant,” the affidavit reads.
“When the details of this was published on social media, another minor came forward and reported abuse by the very same accused under an exactly similar modus operandi and a case has been registered in Table View …
“There is a possibility of another complainant who also wants to come forward … It is evident that this is becoming a serial case.”
• R10,000 - The bail paid by Maré in Cape Town this week on sex charges
• 2 - The number of previous rape cases Maré has faced. He was acquitted in one case and the other was withdrawn
— in numbers
On LinkedIn, Maré describes himself as a mediator and negotiator dealing with “all fields of conflict and dispute settlement”.
He says he set up Tariro in 2013 as a “new-age model training centre and agency. Creating models and icons.”
In an affidavit in support of his bail application, Maré said he had been married three times, spent 10 years as an administrator at the Road Accident Fund and lectured on information technology at Rosebank College in Cape Town. He also runs a coffee shop.
Opposing his release on bail, prosecutor Mabhongo Bulana read a report by a police psychologist that said Maré was admitted to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria in the 1990s.
Bulana said he had been arrested for rape in 2010 and 2012. He was acquitted in one case and the other was withdrawn. Bulana said a “source” had revealed a plan was being hatched for Maré to flee to Cambodia, where his son lives.
He said Maré did not have the required police clearance to work with children and “material” found on his devices — since sent to the Hawks — meant he could face more charges relating to child pornography.
Maré’s lawyer, William Booth, dismissed the psychologist’s report as not objective. “[The psychologist] has gone and looked at the docket and come to a conclusion. I can go and look at a docket and come to a different conclusion … Nothing is said about the accused’s right to bail,” said Booth.
“I would like to see someone travelling across the continents on a bicycle to Cambodia. You can’t fly there for many months to come.”
Booth said one of the complainants attended further photo shoots after an alleged rape and it had taken her six months to report the case.
“There is another incident that happened in June 2019 and then a charge is laid almost a year later … These are not young children who don’t know what they are doing … If a 14-year-old is modelling and takes her top off, exposing her breasts, is that pornographic?”
Magistrate Ronelle Olivier released Maré on R10,000 bail and said he could not leave his home without the investigating officer’s permission.
The case was postponed to September 23.
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