THE Regional Trial Court Branch 262 Pateros Station sentenced one male and another female trafficker for offenses related to online sexual exploitation of children on February 15, 2022.
The traffickers, in exchange for money, sexually abused two female minors aged 17 and seven online.
The conviction originated from a March 6, 2015 case wherein the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking in Person Division (NBI-Ahtrad), with the assistance of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Iacat), conducted a simultaneous entrapment, rescue, and implementation of search warrant operations in the same area after receiving a tip from a reliable informant.
The operations were conducted after subsequent investigation and surveillance confirmed that the two accused were engaging in online sexual exploitation of children activities.
Both of the accused were found guilty of two counts of Qualified Trafficking in Persons under Section 4 (e) of Republic Act (RA) 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012) in relation to Section 6 (a) of RA 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003) and sentenced to suffer a penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P3,000,000.
They were also found guilty of two counts of child pornography under Section 4 (a) of RA 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2012) in relation to Section 4(c)(2) of RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012). They were sentenced to serve the penalty of reclusion perpetua pursuant to Section 15 of RA 9775 in relation to RA 10175.
They were also ordered to pay a fine of P1,000,000.
In all four counts of convictions, the accused were ordered to pay moral damages to each of their victims amounting to P500,000 in addition to exemplary damages amounting to P100,000. (PR)