Gerard Scully
CEBU CITY—The case of Peter Gerard Scully, an Australian jailed for allegedly running a child pornography site on the internet, may well illustrate how rotten the country’s prison system is.
Even behind bars, Scully, a notorious child predator, continued to communicate with the outside world, including with his live-in partner Liezyl Margallo, who helped him run his pedophile ring.
The National Bureau of Investigation discovered several phone calls and text messages between Scully and Margallo even after the Australian’s arrest in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, in February 2015.
These were found after NBI agents seized the mobile phone of Margallo during her arrest in Malapascua Island in northern Cebu province on Wednesday.
“They definitely continued to communicate with each other,” said Dominador Cimafranca, NBI Central Visayas director.
“We fear that Scully is still on top of his online services (showing sexual torture of children),” said Cimafranca.
Cimafranca said the NBI is investigating how Scully managed to contact Margallo when inmates are barred from having or using mobile phones in jail.
Jail officers earlier raided Scully’s cell but found no contraband, according to reports.
Special treatment
“Scully must be enjoying special treatment where he is staying now,” Cimafranca said.
“Even Margallo admitted that she never lost contact with Scully,” he added.
Scully is currently detained at the city jail of Cagayan de Oro in the village of Lumbia while awaiting trial for qualified trafficking, child abuse and child pornography.
The NBI, said Cimafranca, is starting to monitor Scully’s movements in the Cagayan de Oro jail to make sure he is unable to continue his criminal operations there.
Scully and Margallo stand accused of luring female street children and young scavengers into their fold, forcing them to perform sexual acts, torturing them and killing one of the kids.
Cagayan de Oro-based lawyer Alejandro Jose Pallugna, who served as Scully’s counsel for seven months from the time of Scully’s arrest, said Scully continues to demand special treatment in jail.
Pallugna said Scully wanted “special food in prison” and an electric fan, among other amenities.
“In a sense, he’s a demanding person,” Pallugna said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Demands
According to Pallugna, Scully had demanded that Pallugna’s staff bring the foreigner corned beef, pork, beans and eggs. “And then he said it’s hot inside his cell so he needs an electric fan,” Pallugna said.
The demands, said Pallugna, were rejected by jail officials.
Scully’s sister in Australia had asked Pallugna to act as Scully’s legal counsel.
Pallugna withdrew as counsel after disagreements with Scully.
“We just could not agree with each other. He was instructing me what to do. That could not be. As his lawyer, I should know what is to be done,” he said.
Pallugna said another lawyer, Adonis Gumahad, took over but did not last.
“Scully appears to be an intelligent man. I could say he is well-educated,” said Pallugna.
“He looks normal. It’s hard to be believe that he’s a pedophile,” said the lawyer.
Pallugna was still Scully’s counsel at Scully’s arraignment in 2015.
75 cases
The 53-year-old Australian pleaded innocent of the charges.
“He said he didn’t do anything bad to the kids,” Pallugna said.
Scully was indicted for at least 75 cases that involved 14 girls whom he allegedly molested and tortured.
Concerns were raised, however, over whether prosecutors could secure conviction as most of the pieces of evidence against Scully, including a computer, video camera and a memory card, had been destroyed in a fire that razed the Hall of Justice in Cagayan de Oro where these were being kept.
The fire struck on Jan. 30, 2015, or three weeks before Scully’s arrest.
The pieces of evidence were collected by authorities during a raid on Scully’s residence in Apovel Subdivision in Cagayan de Oro in September 2014.
Another live-in partner of Scully, Carme Ann “Angel” Alvarez, was arrested during the raid.
Pallugna said the prosecution should do its best to prove Scully’s guilt.
“The prosecution should handle the case properly,” said Pallugna.
“If Scully gets a good lawyer, there’s really a chance that he can go out of prison,” he said.
But based on his conversations with Scully, does he think his former client is a cyber porn kingpin?
“That I could not say. Let the law take its course. Let the judge decide,” said Pallugna.