The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday expressed alarm over increasing cybersex business in the Philippines. The officials also recently arrested three women who were, reportedly, live streaming sex videos of minors for men watching from the US.
During the raid of a known cybersex den in Bacolod City, four minors were also rescued and brought to a shelter of abused children for debriefing.
PNP General, Liborio Carabbacan, who is in charge of the Women and Children Protection Center, was quoted by Associated Press saying that cybersex incidents in the Philippines are increasing because more people, who can speak basic English, are able to gain access to the internet. This is, in turn, enabling them to communicate with their online customers who are mostly based in America and Australia.
Police are preparing the documents to file charges of human trafficking, child abuse, child pornography and cybercrime against the three women involved in the incident.
The police added that people involved in this kind of crime are especially those living in densely populated and impoverished communities.
The International Justice Mission, a non-profit organisation, monitoring cybersex incidents in the Philippines also reported that parents, who allow their minor children to perform lewd acts online, are motivated by greed and are not often aware that their act is actually exploiting children and is against the law.
Two weeks earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also raided US national 53-year-old David Timothy Deakin in his townhouse in the Northern Philippines where he was operating an alleged online cybersex business.
The US and Australian governments have collaborated with the local Philippine National Police by providing them information on how to address the growing cybersex incidents in the Philippines efficiently.
The police also have noted that despite the series of arrest of cybercrime operators, cybersex crime continues to flourish in the country.
The PREDA Foundation, a non-profit organisation operating in the Philippines has been appealing to the government to create special courts nationwide, which can handle cases of crimes committed online such as child pornography, sextortion and other abuses and enable a speedy prosecution.
