Child ‘predator’ conviction spurs calls for vigilance

Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker said on Saturday that the government should strengthen its financial intelligence work against pedophiles and perpetrators of online sexual exploitation of children after a French animator who worked on beloved Hollywood animated feature films was convicted in France of ordering the livestreamed rape of preteen Filipino girls.

House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela Women’s party list made the call after French animator Bouhalem Bouchiba was sentenced to a 25-year prison term.

In a statement on Saturday, she said Bouchiba’s order to rape young Filipino girls on livestreaming platforms was “deeply disturbing.”

READ: Marcos: We must do more to stop online child abuse

Brosas said the case highlighted “the urgent need to strengthen our financial monitoring systems against the online sexual exploitation of children.”

Paris court decision

“The fact that this predator was able to facilitate these heinous crimes for nearly a decade through money transfers is absolutely unacceptable,” the Makabayan lawmaker said.

The Paris court on Thursday found Bouchiba, 59, guilty of complicity in human trafficking and in the rape of hundreds of girls and of viewing child pornography online.

Bouchiba, who worked on popular animated films for Pixar and Disney, had confessed to the charges during the four-day trial.

“I am aware of everything I did. I ask the victims’ forgiveness,” he told the court.

Bouchiba contributed to blockbusters like the 2004 hit “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” released in 2007.

“On one hand you have a graphic artist who delighted children,” said state prosecutor Philippe Courroye. “On the other, Bouhalem Bouchiba was a pedophile filmmaker who staged his own horror movies.”

Bouchiba was convicted of paying women in the Philippines between 2012 and 2021 to rape and sexually assault girls age between 5 and 10 in front of a camera while he watched via livestream and issued instructions.

Admission

He admitted during his testimony that the violence resembled “torture.”

Each show cost between $54 to $108. In total, Bouchiba spent over $54,000 for all the performances.

Police became interested in Bouchiba when Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, sent out an alert about suspicious money transfers to the Philippines.

On Oct. 4, 2021, Bouchiba—who was living in the United States at the time—was arrested at San Francisco’s airport and extradited to France.

He was already known to police, having been found guilty in 2009 of the sexual abuse of his stepdaughter.

Locate local enablers

Amihan Abueva, regional executive director of the Child Rights Coalition Asia, said the Philippines should do its part to locate and give justice and aid to the victims.

“It is good that international cooperation between the law enforcement authorities and the financial sector have resulted in the conviction of this man,” she told the Inquirer. “However, I hope efforts will also be exerted to identify the child victims for them to be given opportunities for psychological healing and for them to avail of justice.”

She said there were “digital and other means” to find the victims.

“The Philippine government must exert all efforts to trace the children and the local perpetrators who facilitated the abuse,” Abueva said, pointing to the hundreds who were victimized by Bouchida in 500 to 1,000 “shows” over a period of nearly 10 years.

Brosas pressed the Anti-Money Laundering Council to “focus on identifying money trails” connected to syndicates involved in the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, instead of targeting progressive nongovernmental organizations like the Leyte Center for Development Inc.

“Our financial intelligence units must work double time to detect and prevent real criminal transactions that enable sexual violence against Filipino children,” she added.

According to the lawmaker, the administration of President Marcos should be held accountable for neglecting to prioritize the safety and welfare of Filipino children.

In 2016, the United Nations Children’s Fund said the Philippines was the “center of child sex abuse materials production in the world,” with 80 percent of Filipino children prone to online sexual abuse.

New office created

In August, the President issued Executive Order No. 67 which created the Presidential Office for Child Protection as part of efforts to beef up the government’s campaign against the online sexual abuse of children.

Brosas said the government “has a lot to answer for because it allowed perpetrators of such crimes to get away with it.”

“We demand justice for all Filipino children victimized by foreign predators who take advantage of poverty in our country,” she said.

Laws against online sexual exploitation of children must be strengthened and Republic Act No. 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Act, should be properly implemented, Brosas said. —with a report from Agence France-Presse