Two girls rescued in cyberporn operation

CEBU, Philippines — Authorities rescued two girls and arrested two suspected sex traffickers during an entrapment operation in Barangay Tisa in Cebu City late yesterday morning.

Lawyer John Tanagho of the International Justice Mission told The Freeman the girls, ages 14 and 15, were made to engage in sexual acts with the sex traffickers live on camera as a foreign client watched at the other end.

The suspects, also females ages 17 and 21, used smart phones to stream the video live.

Members of the Women and Children’s Protection Center (WCPC) in the Visayas who carried out the operation caught the suspects in the act of engaging in sexual acts with the girls.

Cyberpornography is considered a modern form of human trafficking.

Tanagho said the suspects allegedly prized the show yesterday at $400 and the amount could go higher depending on what the client wanted to see.

“Yes, it depends on what the foreigner request and so, depending on how much the foreigner is going to pay, the trafficker is willing to provide more, children or more graphic, explicit, sexual act for more money,” Tanagho said.

He said it is possible that the client also recorded the scenes and distributed the same.

The suspects are the girls’ neighbors in Tisa.

Aside from the two girls, authorities also rescued an eight-year-old girl and two young boys from the house.

“The perpetrators are really after one thing, and that is money. Really, they are trying to make a lot of money… imagine $400 dollars… for one day, that’s like almost close to P20,000,” Tanagho said.

“It’s really not about poverty, it’s about greed. What we are finding, the suspects, they want to buy the latest gadgets, they want to buy iPhone 7, flat screen tv… they want to build a second level to their house,” Tanagho said.

He said perpetrators must go to jail for the crime.

“It’s good to do education, it’s good to do awareness, but I think only when people are afraid of law enforcement, only if people are afraid that if they get caught and go to jail, then that’s when they are going to stop,” Tanagho said.

He said that recent law enforcement operations have decreased the number of cases of children being exploited in the street and bars.

The two girls rescued yesterday are now under the protective custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region-7, and will be referred to special trauma debriefing services.

“Usually, the children who have been victimized, had been traumatized, so they need therapy, they need counseling, they need protection so probably what will happen is the children will go to the shelter where they can really receive after care services,” Tanagho said.

The operation yesterday was the 10th WCPC conducted in the Visayas this year together with other agencies.

“There is hope for the children of the Visayas because WCPC has already conducted 10 OSEC operations in the Visayas this year, rescuing over 20 victims and arresting more than 10 suspects. Police operations deter crime and protect children from further abuse, and when WCPC is fully staffed it will be an unstoppable force to end online sexual exploitation in the Philippines,” Tanagho said in a statement.

Several years ago, Cebu was placed in the spotlight after successive raids found several cyberpornography “dens” in Cordova town in Mactan. The acts also involved minor victims, several of whom were family members of the suspects. — /JMO (FREEMAN)