A 22-YEAR-OLD online trafficker was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to her crimes last Thursday, June 27.
She confessed to the crime of attempted trafficking in persons and possession of child pornography, before Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 7.
On December 5, 2015, the National Bureau of Investigation–Anti-Human Trafficking Division conducted an entrapment operation that led to the trafficker’s arrest at her residence in Cordova, Cebu. Five children, ages ranging 6 t0 15 years, were rescued.
Judge Himalaloan handed down a 15-year sentence for the crime of attempted trafficking in persons and ordered the trafficker to pay P1.1 million in fine and damages. For possession of child pornography, she was sentenced to one to two months imprisonment and a fine of P50,000.
“This conviction is yet another victory in our fight against online sexual exploitation of our children. But this fight is not only about jailing Filipino online traffickers. The global criminal justice system also needs to go after foreign predators who lure Filipinos with their money to feed
their inhumane and pervert desires. The Philippine criminal justice system will be more victorious if demand countries are also able to put these foreign predators behind bars,” said Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho.
So far in International Justice Mission (IJM)-supported cases, 68 persons have been convicted in the Philippines for perpetrating online sexual exploitation of children (Osec), a violent and global form of human trafficking.
Osec typically involves a foreign online predator from a western country demanding sexually exploitative materials of children from Filipino online traffickers.
IJM has supported Philippine law enforcement agencies in the arrest of 216 Osec perpetrators and the rescue of 503 victims and children at-risk across the country. Many foreign online offenders who pay for and direct the live-streamed abuse in Osec have also been arrested and convicted in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Europe.
Occurring in different communities all over the Philippines, Osec is a crime that violates the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act or Republic Act (RA) 9208 (as amended by RA 10364), which comes with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million to P5 million.
Typical Osec offenses also violate RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of
2012) and RA 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009). Both have penalties equivalent to 20 to 40 years imprisonment.
IJM encourages the public to report suspected Osec crimes to their local Women and Children Protection Desks, the ACG 7 (032-505-4167) or the Women and Children Protection Center Visayas Field Unit (032-410-8483). (PR)