MANILA, Philippines – A 35-year-old mother was arrested Saturday, May 30, inside her home in Caloocan for selling livestream feeds of the sexual abuse of 3 of her own children, ages 8 to 17, and their 4–year–old cousin.

The unnamed woman was arrested in a sting operation by a joint group from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), according to the International Justice Mission (IJM), a non-profit group working with government agencies to crack down on Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) in the Philippines.

The IJM said authorities were preparing multiple complaints of Anti- Trafficking Act, Cybercrime Prevention Act, Anti Child Pornography Act and Anti-Child Abuse Act.

Under Republic Act 9208, child trafficking is considered qualified trafficking and punishable by life imprisonment, which means the charge, if it pushes through, is non–bailable.

The minors are now in the custody of the Caloocan City Social Welfare and Development Office.

The Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) Chief Alessandro Abella said the raiding team encountered heavy traffic going to Caloocan because of quarantine measures, but “our dedicated personnel persevered through transit and even ran as fast as they could when they arrived to the crime scene in order to prevent the suspect from getting away.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that because of the lockdown, reports of online sexual exploitation of children through their tip lines more than tripled during the last 3 months of quarantine, with 279,166 cyber tips from March to May 2020, compared to 76,561 cyber tips over the same period in 2019. 

The DOJ is part of the inter-agency group Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre (PICACC).

“Collaboration among agencies is the secret to this success. By the nature of the crime itself, intelligence sharing is imperative to uncover this heinous crime,” said Janet Francisco, chief of the NBI trafficking unit. 

Last week, American child sex offender David Timothy Deakin was sentenced to life in prison with a P2 million fine. He was arrested in 2017 where authorities seized sex toys, drug paraphernalias, and rescued two girls who were 9 and 11 years old. – Rappler.com

For online reporting one can send an email to ahtrad@nbi.gov.ph or you may call the NBI Trunkline at 02 85238231or the NBI Anti-Human Trafficking Division – 02 85219208 (direct line) or 02 85238231 (local 3497) to report cases of OSEC.