Woman faces porn, trafficking charges; 8 kids rescued

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Police authorities in Leyte province have filed charges, after inquest proceedings, against a 30-year-old woman for child pornography, human trafficking and child abuse.

They earlier arrested the woman in an entrapment operation while allegedly engaging the children in online pornography for clients at a remote village in MacArthur town in Leyte. They also rescued from her clutches her 3-month-old baby and 8-year-old daughter, and six other girls–two 4-year-olds, three 5-year-olds and a 9-year-old.

After the arrest the police allowed the woman to take her  baby inside the detention cells for lactation purposes, while the six others were brought to the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Region 8.

Senior Superintendent Norberto Tuazon, director of the Leyte Police Provincial Office, told The Philippine Star and The Freeman newspapers that the woman is now detained at the Tanauan Municipal Police Station, while waiting for the court's order of commitment to a designated jail in the province.

Tuazon said the suspect was caught by members of the LPPO's Woman and Child Protection Center with the help of members of the International Justice Mission (IJM) who also rescued the children while being put by her online for a pornography show with a client.

The IJM is an international human rights organization focusing on crackdown of child abuse incidents in the country. Based on IJM initial investigation, the suspect conducted online shows using the children for her foreign clients, who would ask her to sexually abuse the minors "until (they) cried in pain."

Preparatory to the entrapment operation, an undercover policeman went online, pretending as a client, and asked the woman to put up her sex show for P1,500 using the children, as she allegedly do as usual. She obliged thus resulting to her arrest.

The parents of the other victims claimed to the police that they have no knowledge on what the suspect had been doing to their children.

Charges are now filed against the woman for violation of Republic Act 9208 (Anti-Human Trafficking in Person Act), RA 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act), and RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).

The woman's illegal activities was actually reported late of 2015 before the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division of the Police Regional Office-8, but it was not until the US Federal Bureau of Investigation  gave a tip about her to the local police that months of surveillance and intelligence build-up was done.

The FBI, in coordination with Canadian authorities, first caught a client of the suspect early this year. (FREEMAN)