3 minors in cybersex getting help

BY SHIELA GELERA, Visayan Daily Star, May 10, 2017

The three minors allegedly used in cybersex and rescued in Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod City, Friday,are set to undergo debriefing and pyschosocial intervention, Senior Police Officer 4 ArlynTorrendon, officer-in-charge of the Bacolod Women and Children Protection Desk, said yesterday.

The victims, aged 8, 9 and 12 have been placed in protective custody under the Department of Social Services and Development and the Philippine National Police, Torrendon said.

She said they rescued the three minors and arrested three women, including the mother of the victims, during the entrapment operation, contrary to earlier reports.

The suspects aged 43, 20 and 35 are still detained at Police Station 10 and are facing multiple charges for violations of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 as amended by R.A. 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012; R.A. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012; and R.A. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, a police report showed.

Torrendonsaid it was not the mother who was taping and selling the lewd photos and videos of the minors.

The 43-year-old suspect, whose name the police withheld, was the subject of the operation, but they also nabbed the victims’ 33-year-old mother and another 20-year-old woman,who were in the house during the entrapment operation, Torrendon said.

During consultation with the victims, it was found out that they were unaware that they were victims of cybersex, Torrendon said.

The mother, who is a widow, had been raising her three children alone.

Torrendon said the 43-year-old suspect had notbeen recommendedbail, while the mother, 33, and the 20-year-old woman eachhad to post P100,000as bailbond.

The operation against the mother and the two others was conducted after the recovery of the lewd videos and photos of the minors from the laptop of a foreign national, who was recently nabbed in the United States.*SGG