A 17-year-old girl (name withheld due to age) has been arrested for selling nude photographs of her underage relatives and neighbors to pedophiles around the globe.

When arrested, the girl said she had started her online business in 2014. She purportedly earned 5,000 to 9,000 pesos for each image.

It is also alleged the teen would organise for foreign visitors to have sex with the children they had previously seen in the images she sold online.

The girl also sold photographs of herself, generally in skimpy clothing but non-nude.

Most images were taken on a cell phone and uploaded at internet cafes. She would then chat to foreigners on social media, encouraging them to buy photographs and visit Cebu.

Among the pictures she sold were photographs of her 10 and 11-year-old cousins.

An entrapment scheme was set up to lure the girl to a Cebu City hotel last week. Two girls, ages 16 and 20 were apparently “rescued” during the sting. The two are now in the care of Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The young lady was charged before the Office of the City Prosecutor for Republic Act #9208 (the Anti-Trafficking in Persons – as well as Republic Act #10364 (the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons), a non-bailable offense.

She will also be charged with RA #10175 (the Cybercrime Prevention Act) and RA #9775 (the Anti-Child Pornography Law) and RA #7810 (the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).

Authorities said they were initially unsure if the girl was a minor. Her mother later brought in her birth certificate.

The entrapment case against the girl stemmed from an arrest of an online pedophile in Europe in 2014 – the images he had led authorities to the young lady.

The girl had been under investigation since last September – her parents said they knew their daughter hung out at internet cafes, but they had no knowledge of her being involved in illicit activities.

Authorities said they had a difficult time tracking down the girl as she would not do her business in one internet cafe. Finally they met her via social media and pretended to be a foreign visitor. Police then asked her to bring girls to a hotel, for which she requested 3,000 pesos for each.