American charged for trafficking, abuse

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has charged an American national before the court for allegedly hiring a 15-year-old girl for purposes of sexual exploitation in exchange for money.

Craig Alex Levin is facing attempted trafficking and child abuse.

“In this case, complainants’ unrefuted evidence shows that Levin had been offering gifts to the minor, taking advantage of her vulnerability for the purpose of sexual exploitation as it had been priorly established by (the) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report that Levin is engaged in sexual exploitation of minors,” read the joint resolution.

Prosecutor II Cesar Gariano has recommended a P200,000 bail for the attempted trafficking case and P150,000 for the child abuse charge for Levin’s temporary liberty while the cases are pending in court.

The Women and Children’s Protection Center-Visayas Field Unit (WCPC-VFU), in their complaint, alleged they have been closely monitoring the presence of Levin in Cebu City in view of the referral from the FBI to the Philippine National Police that the latter was reported to be engaged in sexual exploitation of minors.

During the surveillance, the authorities found out that Levin frequented several hotels in Cebu City, some of which have already banned him for bringing minors inside their establishment.

Operatives of WCPC-FVU said that last May 24, 2019, they spotted Levin along Ramos Street, Cebu City.

They closely monitored him and saw that he was with a minor-looking female getting inside the hotel lobby along Mango Avenue, Cebu City.

When they asked them where they were headed to, Levin told them that they were on their way to their hotel room.

Because they had reasonable suspicion that the girl he was with was not related to him and she was about to be sexually exploited by him, operatives arrested Levin.

The American national was arrested when he and the minor were about to go inside the hotel’s elevator.

The girl disclosed to the police her name and that she was just 15 years old.

Levin opted not to submit a counter-affidavit to negate the allegations filed against him.

Gariano, thus, found probable cause and indicted Levin of the complaints filed.

“When the police arrested Levin, he was still attempting to victimize the minor for trafficking based on his conduct of obtaining a fake identification for her; for lying to the police that the minor was his cousin and for insisting to let her go with him inside his hotel room just to give his gift to her,” read the joint resolution. — GAN (FREEMAN)