Hearing of Cordova cybersex case begins

CEBU, Philippines -  A compact disk with “nude plays” of children rescued from a cybersex operation last June 1 was presented as evidence in the hearing of the case filed against the couple accused of running the operation.

Yesterday afternoon’s hearing at the sala of Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court Branch 27 Judge Toribio Quiwag was the first against the couple charged with using their own children and a niece in cybersex operations in Cordova town.

The couple was charged for child abuse, three counts of child pornography and qualified human trafficking.

Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, co-chairwoman of the Provincial Commission for the Welfare of Children, presented the CD containing the “nude plays” of the children.   The CD was reportedly handed to her by an informant before the raid last June 1.

It was Magpale who called the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an operation in Cordova town in coordination with the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Magpale, who served as the first witness of the case, said that what the couple did to the children was the most offensive kind of abuse in exchanged for money from clients abroad.

The children were not allowed to see their parents during the hearing. The couple was caught in the act of exploiting six minors, five of them their own children, by making them engage in explicit sexual activities in front of a web camera.

The obscene acts of children were transmitted through the Internet to their clients abroad for a fee. Of the six children, two were male while the rest were female. Also seized during the raid were sex toys, a receipt of the transaction and a personal computer.

Even without their parents, Magpale assured that the six children are doing well under the welfare of the PCWC.

The second hearing of the case is set for Friday, 12 witnesses are expected to testify against the couple. — (FREEMAN)