NBI nabs British woman on suspicion of trafficking

OLONGAPO CITY–Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday afternoon arrested a 65-year-old British woman who was suspected of illegally detaining five children in her house in Barangay (village) Aningway in Subic town in Zambales province.
Father Shay Cullen, an Irish Roman Catholic priest who runs the Preda Foundation Inc., a shelter for abused children in this city, said social workers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) rescued the five children from the apartment of Lilian Mae Thompson earlier on Thursday.
Cullen said one of the children is a six-month-old boy who was found “severely malnourished” when he was rescued from Thompson’s house.
Three girls, all of them seven years old, and a five-year-old boy were also among those rescued.
Cullen said the children, who are now in a safe house, have undergone medical examination, which revealed that the three girls were sexually abused, as indicated in their medical certificates.
The five-year-old boy was also found to be severely malnourished, he said.
Cullen said he and Preda social workers received reports that foreigners have been coming to Thompson’s house before the rescue operation, prompting them to suspect that the children were being abused there.
Preda and DSWD on Friday filed an illegal detention case against Thompson in the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court.
Cullen said other charges related to child abuse and trafficking would be filed against the Thompson on Monday.