Cyberporn: Parents of kids are culprits

PARENTS and relatives of children rescued from cyberpornography operations in Cordova town, Cebu province, which is said to be the ground zero of cyperpornography in the Philippines, are invited for questioning at the National Bureau of Investigation office in Cebu City. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Police arrested two women on charges of forcing their own children to perform sexual acts for foreign clients on the Internet in yet another case of cyberpornography.

The arrests of the women, one 24 years old and the other 30, were made as police rescued seven children, one as young as 2 years old, from their house in a village here that is allegedly being used for cyberporn.

Officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), which helped the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group during the raid, said the children were being coached by their own mothers to perform live sexual acts in front of web cameras for mostly foreign clients.

A search warrant issued by Judge Evalyn Morales led to the raid.

According to the CIDG officials, the children catered to foreign clients who would call them names and tell them what sexual acts to perform.

One American appeared to be a constant client but police would not reveal his identity.

“Sometimes he’d call them one by one,” said Senior Insp. Doren Mauricio, CIDG information officer. “Sometimes, he’d call five of them at the same time,” he said.

“The children would stand in a corner, stark naked, waiting for who’s next,” she said.

The raid led to the arrest of the two  mothers who are now facing charges for several violations of laws against child pornography and trafficking.

“Since the victims are minors, the offense falls under qualified trafficking, a nonbailable offense,” said Chief Insp. Crisle Cainong, chief of the Digital Forensic Laboratory in the region.

“If convicted, they face life imprisonment and a fine of P5 million,” Cainong said.

“We want to educate the community about the bad impact of child pornography,” said Senior Supt. Joel Pernito, CIDG regional director.

During the raid, police also seized electronic gadgets believed to be used to broadcast live sex acts on the Internet.

Pernito said the raid was part of the government campaign against child abuse and cybersex trade, which makes children in the Philippines very vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao