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Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Fil-Am in US convicted of child abuse and sex with boys
By Garry Cabotaje
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Authorities are looking into the local contacts of a Filipino-American who is facing 17 years in prison after pleading guilty before the US District Court to charges of child pornography and illicit sexual conduct with Filipino boys.
Edilberto Tabalada Datan, 61, entered his plea last March 1 and acknowledged to have traveled to the Philippines and have sex with eight Filipino teenagers ages 14 to 15, according to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) press statement.
Datan reportedly paid the young victims with “food, clothing and money,” said the press statement, released through the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 yesterday.
Initial reports reaching PRO 7 said Datan has local contacts in Cebu, making it easier for him to prey on innocent children.
“That’s what we’re trying to establish because of reports that his local contacts have been roaming around scot-free. These young victims were even afraid to show up for fear that these local contacts might get back at them,” said Supt. Carmelo Val-moria, PRO 7 community relations division chief.
Valmoria called on the public to report to the PNP or to the newly launched Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons if they have information about the cohorts of Datan in his illegal activities.
Valmoria said the local contacts can be charged with violations of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Meeting
The inter-agency council led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), with 30 government agencies and nongovernment organizations as members, was launched in Cebu City last March 31.
The council meets every last Thursday of the month. The meeting is aired in the radio program “Klarohay ta bay” at 9-10 a.m. over dyLA.
Last Nov. 4, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepted Datan at the Los Angeles Airport “as he returned from a trip to Cebu Island in the Philippines.”
CBP inspectors then contacted ICE agents after finding a digital camera and four computer memory cards concealed in a pair of jeans in Datan’s luggage.
“A review of the material on those memory sticks showed they contained more than 200 sexually explicit images of teenage Filipino boys,” ICE said.
Datan reportedly claimed that the boys were part of a Filipino dance troupe, whom he knew through friends.
He said he often attended the boys’ performances and stayed at the nearby hostel.
Collection
The next day, ICE agents raided Datan’s San Diego home and seized a large collection of child pornography.
US authorities investigated Datan, a former California Department of Real Estate auditor, after his name surfaced in an international investigation into Regpay, a Belarus-based company that provided billing services to subscribers of child pornography websites.
“Some pedophiles mistakenly believe they can escape detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas,” the news release quoted Michael Unzueta, ICE special agent-in-charge in San Diego.
“We’re putting those who prey on children on notice that ICE will use all of its law enforcement authorities to combat this heinous behavior both here and abroad,” Unzueta said.
Conviction
Established in March 2003, ICE is the largest investigative arm of the US Department of Homeland Security.
It said Datan, a naturalized Filipino, is the second person to be found guilty of child sex tourism charges in the Central District of California under the provisions of the Protect Act.
“The first, John W. Seljan, was convicted in November and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28,” the ICE news release said.
The arrest of Datan was reportedly part of Operation Predator, an ICE enforcement initiative launched last year to identify, investigate, arrest and deport (for foreign nationals) child sex predators.
Since the operation began in July 2003, ICE reported over 5,000 individual arrests nationwide, including more than 1,200 in California.
Jail term
Datan, who will face a 17-year jail term, will be required to remain under court supervision for the rest of his life once he is released, ICE said.
US authorities lauded the PNP and the DOJ for being instrumental in the prosecution of Datan, adding that more foreign governments have already shown willingness to assist in sex crime cases.
David S. Nehls, US ICE special agent-in-charge, also thanked the PRO 7 for its assistance, which he described as “essential to the successful resolution of this case.”
“Your efforts will keep a sexual predator from preying on disadvantaged children in foreign countries,” he said.
Nehls, who is detailed at the US Embassy in Manila, visited PRO 7 last week, interviewing minors allegedly victimized by Datan.
(April 12, 2005 issue)
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