Seven children were rescued from a house in Cordova Town, Cebu, after a 38-year-old woman was arrested for online child abuse.
Meliza Ogaob allegedly used a cell phone to film videos of the abuse, which she sold to foreign perverts for $50 each.
The children, three boys and four girls, were rescued after a sting operation yesterday (Tuesday, October 24), which was led by the Women and Children’s Protection Center (WCPC) Visayas Field Unit.
The oldest victim is 17, and some of the others are below the age of 10.
In September last year, seven children were rescued by the WCPC from another cybersex den in Cordova Town.
Senior Superintendent Romeo Perigo, WCPC Visayas Field Unit chief, said: “One of the rescued minors is 17 years old. She said she was only 13 years old when she started to work for the suspect.”
Ogaob allegedly charged $50 dollars, or about 2,500 pesos, per client. She also performed sexual acts with some of the children.
After they were tipped-off about the suspect’s activities, Perigo said they conducted a surveillance for two weeks to confirm the information.
It is believed the tip-off came from a foreign police authority, but Perigo declined to confirm its identity.
After the surveillance operation, police conducted an entrapment by transacting with the suspect online. After she had agreed to be paid $50 dollars for footage of the children, officers barged inside her house, rescued the minors and arrested the suspect.
Perigo said two to three cell phones were recovered from the suspect which are now being investigated for further evidence.
Ogaob has no other job, while her common-law husband is a fisherman.
She will now face charges under Republic Act 10364, or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, and RA 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.