3 men nabbed for ‘sextortion’

MANILA, Philippines — Three men were arrested for alleged “sextortion” in separate entrapment operations since Wednesday.

Jose Carlo Estraza, 35, was arrested by Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) operatives in Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Piñas on Wednesday for allegedly targeting a 16-year-old girl.

Estraza is accused of threatening the girl, whom he met on social media platform Facebook, that he would make her sensitive pictures and videos public if she would not meet up with him at a condotel.

The girl and her mother sought assistance from the ACG, which set up a sting at the condotel.

The suspect faces charges of grave coercion in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Law and RA 11930, also known as the Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children and Child Abuse and Exploitation Material Act.

Also in Las Piñas, Bryan Aldrin Escalona, 26, was arrested by the ACG in Barangay Pamplona Tres on Thursday for allegedly extorting money from a woman he dated in exchange for not spreading her nude photos and sex videos.

Probers said the suspect and the victim, 26, met on dating app Tinder. The suspect secretly recorded when they had sex, the ACG said.

After several months, the victim received a message from a Facebook user saying she picked up the suspect’s cell phone, which contained her nude pictures and videos.

The Facebook user demanded P10,000 in cash in exchange for the deletion of the sensitive videos and photographs.

 It turned out Escalona was using a fake account to threaten the victim.

 The suspect is being held on charges of robbery extortion and grave coercion as well as violation of laws on violence against women and photo and video voyeurism in relation to RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

In Pasig, Mark Richshel Villar, 27, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly posting the nude photographs and videos of a woman on a Facebook group chat.

ACG operatives, working undercover, arrested Villar at a convenience store in Barangay Rosario after a 25-year-old woman lodged a complaint against him for distributing her explicit videos on an online group chat.

The victim said Villar demanded to have sex with her in exchange for deleting her photographs and videos.

Police are preparing charges of grave coercion and grave threat in relation to cybercrime, sexual harassment, video voyeurism and violence against women laws.