Simultaneous Operations Rescue 13 Victims from Online Sexual Exploitation in Tacloban and Biliran

LEYTE – Nine (9) children are now safe from violence after being rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-AHTRAD) on Friday morning, February 23, 2018.  The children, ages 4 to 17 years old, are all victims of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC).  Three (3) suspected traffickers were arrested during the simultaneous operations. Four (4) adult victims were also rescued.

The NBI-AHTRAD conducted an entrapment operation in Tacloban City, rescuing two (2) minor siblings, ages 15 and 17, and arresting three suspects – the victims’ older sister Jessa (real name withheld), her male live-in partner, and another woman Monica (real name withheld). Jessa and Monica are believed to be cousins.

Two adult victims, ages 19 and 22, were also removed from Jessa’s house, where the operation was conducted. Authorities recovered a laptop computer and a cell phone.

During the entrapment operation, the suspects were caught by the agents in the act of offering to sexually abuse the victims and “live-stream” those sex acts from Jessa’s Tacloban home in exchange for money from a foreigner.  If convicted, the suspects face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for human trafficking under RA 10364.

In the second operation, NBI-AHTRAD implemented a search warrant at a house in the Municipality of Culaba, Biliran Province where Monica was also operating a cybersex den.  Seven (7) children, ages 4 to 17, and two (2) adults, ages 20 and 24, were rescued. Several of the victims are related to the arrested suspects. Two of them were rescued inside the house while the rest were rescued from the neighborhood.

Among the items seized from the house were a desktop computer with screen and keyboard, headset, webcam, iPad and a smart phone. Both operations were conducted around 6:30 a.m.

“The Online Sexual Exploitation of Children is the most alarming, evil epidemic facing Filipino children today,” said Atty. John Tanagho, IJM Cebu Field Office Director. “Everyone from law enforcement to local and national government officials to prosecutors to NGOs to churches must work together to END this horrific abuse of Filipino children.”

Atty. Janet Francisco, Chief of NBI-AHTRAD, also hailed the successful operations.

“The arrest and rescues we made today in Region 8 by NBI-AHTRAD and local NBI agents should send a clear message that Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) will not be tolerated anywhere in the Philippines,” she said.

Both of the cases started with an international referral from the UK National Crime Agency after a UK citizen was arrested and convicted in the UK for sexual offenses against Filipino children, including child sexual assault and child pornography.  The UK perpetrator Alain Charlwood-Collings lived in Biliran from 2008 to 2012 where he sexually abused and exploited numerous children with the help of his Filipina girlfriend and other Filipinos.  From 2012 to 2015, he returned to the UK but continued to direct and purchase the live-streamed online sexual abuse of Filipino children (OSEC).

This is an alarming case of massive sexual abuse and exploitation of children taking place right in Biliran Province over a period of seven (7) years involving 35 to 46 victims.

Some of the identified victims who suffered abuse at the hands of Charlwood-Collings were infants under 6 months of age.

Through the years, he sent a total of over 2.4 million pesos (33,431 British Pounds) to at least 15 individuals in the Philippines.

When he was arrested, the UK police found an extensive amount of child sexual abuse materials in his possession, including 107 videos amounting to 104 hours of sexual abuse of Filipino children.

The UK perpetrator is now serving an 18-year prison sentence in the UK.

Police will file complaints against the suspects for criminal violations under RA 10364 the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, RA 9775 the Anti-Child Pornography Act in relation to RA 10175 the Cybercrime Prevention Act and potentially other related violations. 

These successful simultaneous OSEC operations were a collaborative effort of NBI-AHTRAD, NBI Region 8, Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 8 (DSWD-8), the Provincial Social Welfare Office and International Justice Mission (IJM). 

The rescued victims are now safe in the protective custody of the government. Rescued victims of OSEC need many social services, including therapy and rehabilitation.  OSEC victims would 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 their parents, relatives or family friends. (PR)