POLICE arrested a woman and rescued six young girls from online sexual exploitation during an entrapment in Cordova, Cebu yesterday.
Operatives from the PNP Woman and Children Protection Center–Visayas Field Unit (WCPC-VFU) caught Donna (not her real name) offering to sexually abuse two of the victims in exchange for money from online predators.
The suspected trafficker, who looks to be in her mid-20s and is believed to be pregnant, was under surveillance for several months. She had transmitted online sexually explicit materials involving one of the rescued minors.
During the entrapment, Donna offered again to sexually abuse two girls, ages three and 12, and livestream those acts to get money from a foreigner online. The operation took place in a small house in Barangay Ibabao, Cordova around 10 a.m. The house belongs to the grandmother of some of the victims. The grandmother is also under investigation for being an accomplice.
The two girls Donna offered to sexually exploit online were rescued along with several other girls. Two boys, ages five and seven, who were inside the house when the arresting officers barged in are being assessed by social workers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development 7 to find out if they also suffered abuse at the hands of the suspected trafficker.
A teenage girl was rescued in a follow-up operation in a separate location in Cordova about an hour after the entrapment. Around 4 p.m., two more teenage girls who were previously offered online by Donna were taken into custody by social workers.
“IJM (International Justice Mission) praises the excellent work of WCPC Visayas operatives in this case. Because of their courage, more young children are now safe from online sexual exploitation and another suspected online trafficker has been arrested so she can never abuse children again. We encourage members of the community to report cases of online exploitation to WCPC so that the violent abuse of children can be stopped,” said Atty. John Tanagho, IJM Cebu field office director.
Charges
Donna is the seventh person to be arrested in Cebu this year by operatives from WCPC-VFU for engaging in Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (Osec).
Last May 16, a mother was arrested and three teenage girls, including her own daughter, were rescued in San Fernando, Cebu. Anti-Osec operations also took place in Cordova and Talisay City last April 23, and in Lapu-Lapu City last Feb. 26, March 22 and March 23.
The suspect will be charged under Republic Act (RA) 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act as amended by RA 10364, and RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act in relation to RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
The Provincial WCP, Cebu Provincial Police Office’s Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7, and IJM also supported yesterday’s operations.
Now under the protective custody of the DSWD, the rescued victims will receive psychosocial interventions, including therapy and rehabilitation. Rescued victims of Osec will only be returned to the community after a comprehensive family home and risk assessment is conducted to confirm that the home is a safe place for the children and that they will no longer be sexually abused or exploited by parents, relatives or neighbors.
As of May 2018, IJM has supported local law enforcement agencies in operations leading to the arrest of 134 OSEC perpetrators and the rescue of 310 victims around the country since 2011. Some 35 accused have already been convicted for trafficking children into online sexual exploitation in the Philippines. (PR)