The parents of a 16-year-old girl have been arrested for pimping her out to a foreigner, who was caught in the act of sleeping with her.
Kim Hyo Soon, who is described by police as a “Canadian-Mongolian” despite his Korean name, is also behind bars following the raid on the house in Batangas City on Saturday (March 17).
The operation was launched after agents of the National Bureau of Investigation-Special Action Unit (NBI-SAU) were tipped off by a concerned neighbour. The “concerned citizen” told officers that the parents were pimping out the girl for 40,000 pesos per night.
Footage of the raid filmed by GMA News show Kim being dragged from a bed and read his rights before being taken into custody.
Later, when asked why he paying money to the family, he told the camera crew: “I’m falsely accused, I deny all the charges. I’m tipping, not giving, tipping. Because it feels good,” said Mr Kim when asked why he gives money to the family.
The parents have also denied the charges against them.
Kim and the girl’s father reportedly knew each other from the latter’s work as a tour guide.
The FBI’s deputy chief Attorney said: “This is very disheartening because the parents themselves, the biological parents, are the ones offering the minor child sex services to a foreigner. ”
The parents now facing charges of qualified trafficking while Kim is facing a child abuse case.
The girl has been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for protective custody.
NBI-SAU chief Joel Tovera said: “We will not tolerate this and we want this foreign national to answer to the fullest extent this outrageous act that he has committed.”