CITY OF SAN FERNANDO --- Two suspects charged with the attempted cybersex trafficking of three minors in Angeles City were convicted recently after the court found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt and were sentenced to a straight penalty of 15 years imprisonment plus pay a fine of P500,000.
The court convicted Lyan A. Tandeg and Shellina A. Nisperos, who have been arrested by National Bureau of Investigation-Cyber crime Division (NBI-CD) for producing child pornographic materials and pimping three minors, an eight year old and two 11 year old girls.
The suspects pleaded guilty to attempted trafficking on September 28, 2016, resulting to an extremely quick trial process that demonstrated the growing capacity of the justice system to quickly adjudicate human trafficking cases.
The conviction came less than a year after the arrest of the perpetrators with memoranda of agreement executed by all the parties to enforce the payment of damages to the victims with the approval of the court.
The International Justice Mission (IJM) said this resulted from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Operation Swift Traveler," which passed information on the criminal activities of the convicts to the NBI-CD.
The IJM is a global organization that protects the poor from violence. IJM partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems.
The largest non-profit organization of its kind, IJM combats bonded labor, sex trafficking, property grabbing and sexual violence, working in nearly 20 communities throughout South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The IJM added the investigation revealed that the suspects have been offering the minors P3,000 each for sexual services to customers outside the country.
The IJM furthered that the convicts conducted an illicit enterprise by advertising the minors' nude and sexually explicit photos and selling them to "sexual predators" living in the United States.
"The minors victimized in this case were invited to go to a hotel and were only given P300 to P500 to pose for lewd photographs. They were scared that they would never be returned to their families if they did not comply with their abusers," the IJM said.
The victims who have been rescued by the NBI-CD last November 2015, are now safe under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Pampanga. (JTD)