DOJ files charges vs pimp peddling children online

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed trafficking charges against a pimp who peddles young boys online to foreigners for explicit acts or materials in exchange for money.

In a press release on Monday, the Justice department said that it filed four counts of qualified trafficking charges against respondent Jhon Patrick Carmona before the Laguna Regional Trial Court.

Following the agency's discovery of probable cause, Carmona's alleged use of an X (formerly Twitter) account to distribute child sexual abuse and exploitation materials was uncovered by the National Bureau of Investigation’s Investigation-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-HTRAD), based on information provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Respondent Carmona committed Trafficking in Persons, since he offered the sexual services of the three vulnerable minor victims to the undercover foreigner for a fee,” the resolution indicting Carmona read. 

The prosecutors did not recommend a bail on the charges against Carmona.

With the use of undercover agents, the NBI-HTRAD managed to initiate a series of communications with the respondent, primarily focused on the respondent's requests for money in exchange for explicit photos and videos of young boys through Telegram.

As the undercover agents and the respondent became more familiar with each other, the respondent suggested meeting up with the undercover agent he was chatting with to offer three young boys for sex.

Following this, a rescue operation took place during which respondent Carmona was arrested, and three young boys were rescued.

Aside from the qualified trafficking charges, the complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 11930 or Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation for Children and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials was referred for further preliminary investigation.