Child trafficking suspect arrested, girls rescued in Cagayan de Oro
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A suspected child trafficker has been arrested and is now facing a string of charges at a local court, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
He was identified as Jeffrey Mendez, resident of Gmelina Street at urban Carmen Village.
NBI agents and employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) raided Mendez’s pad on Tuesday (Sept. 30) and rescued three girls, two of them minors, said NBI regional director Patricio Bernales Jr.
Bernales, citing the girls’ testimony, said Mendez acted as the girls’ pimp. One of the girls said Mendez had sexually abused her.
Among the complaints filed against Mendez were rape, child prostitution and other sexual cases, attempt to commit a child for prostitution and qualified trafficking.
Bernales said Mendez usually contacts his clients by phone and would bring the girls to them.
Bernales added that Mendez’s operation was laid bare when a minor managed to escape his pad and sought police help.
The child is now in the care of Malisa Home, a private organization that has been helping abused girls.
“Her escape was what triggered us to conduct a surveillance,” Bernales said.
When interviewed, Mendez denied he was selling children for sex and was just allowing the girls to sleep in his pad.
“I took them in because they have nowhere else to go after going out the whole day. I did not hide them,” he said.
Mendez said one of the girls was the one who had introduced him to the other children.
