Charges filed vs. cybersex operator

The women, who accused the American arrested last week in Lapu-Lapu City for allegedly operating a cybersex den, found an ally in his live-in partner, who provided authorities with the details of his operations.

Twenty-eight-year-old Cherry Bacus executed an affidavit detailing the operation of Marc Anthony Woolbright.

The affidavit of Bacus was used by officers from the CIDG to file charges for qualified trafficking in person against Woolbright.

A separate charge for illegal possession of firearm also filed against the suspect.

Woolbright is now out of jail after posting a P200,000 bail.

The statement of Bacus supported the affidavits issued by the women picked up by the police accusing Woolbright of operating a cybersex den inside an apartment at Camella Homes in Lapu-Lapu City.

The CIDG earlier threatened to include Bacus in the charges with Woolbright, but decided not to include her since she cooperated with the authorities.

Bacus said, sometime in December 2003, she met Woolbright at an uptown karaoke bar.

She further said that Woolbright provided her an apartment in barangay Maribago in Lapu-Lapu City and the following year, they transferred to another house in barangay Basak.

But last month, they transferred to an apartment at Camella Homes in barangay Basak.

She recalled that sometime September last year, Woolbright proposed to her that they operate an Internet café.

She added that Woolbright told her to convince friends to work with them.

She said that Woolbright bought computers with web cameras for the café and she and her friends were told by the suspect to pose naked before a web cam for his overseas-based clients.

Each of them received a fee from P2,000 to P20,000 a month based on their appearance with foreign customers on the web cam.

The operation of a cybersex den in Lapu-Lapu City was discovered when complaints were filed before the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that Woolbrights allegedly hired minors for his operations.

CIDG operatives assisted DSWD personnel in the raid and some women were found posing naked in front of the web camera.

Meanwhile, Mayor Tomas Osmeña emphasized that the city government has to be careful in responding to a sensitive issue such as cybersex so as not to "create a situation that if the business is lucrative, they might go underground."

"We must carefully match what we say and what we're capable of doing, otherwise, the government will lose its credibility," he said.

What he intends to do at this point, Osmeña said, is what he refers to as a "calibrated response." This is urging operators of Internet cafés not to allow minors to use private rooms in the cafés or to leave the door of the room open if a minor chooses to use a private room. This way, the café's attendants can monitor and/or regulate the usage of the computer.

City Ordinance 1901, authored by Councilor Edgardo Labella, aims to regulate the operation of Internet cafés and similar businesses. Under the ordinance, membership to the Internet Café Association of Cebu is a strict requirement before a business permit can be issued to an Internet café.

However, no specific provision in the ordinance categorically bans the installation of private rooms in Internet cafés that many fears have provided an avenue for some people even minors to engage in cybersex.

"How far can we go without creating more risks?" Osmeña said, explaining that those individuals, especially minors, who engage in cybersex might end up in possible cybersex dens when the city adds teeth to the Ordinance 1901 to strictly prohibit private rooms in Internet cafés.