67-year-old German tourist accused of paying teenage boys for sex

German
Ulrich Market pictured after his arrest for allegedly paying a pimp to bring two underage boys to his rented accommodation in Lapu-Lapu City. Picture courtesy of LapuLapu Flash Report, via Facebook.

A 67-year-old German man was arrested after he was found with two teenage boys in a rented apartment in Lapu-Lapu City.

Ulrich Market was with the boys aged 12 and 16 and 24-year-old Ryan Guarin, who is accused of pimping the youngsters.

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Superintendent Mark Gifter Sucalit of Lapu-Lapu City Police said they were acting on tip-off when they raided Market’s rented accommodation on Wednesday (May 16).

The German has denied the allegations against him, saying it was a case of “misinterpretation”. 

He said: “I did nothing wrong. I am absolutely not guilty. There was a minor in the room, I have seen that he is very young but I have done nothing with them. It’s a misinterpretation. Nothing sexual and something like that [sic].”

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Market said that he and the boys, whom he had met once before, went to his rented room after swimming off Mactan Island.

Police say that Market has been renting his apartment since March when he arrived in Cebu for an extended vacation.

Chief Inspector Juan Capacio, who is investigating the case, said Guarin and Market met through an online dating site for gay men.

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He also alleged that Market gave Guarin 2,000 pesos in cash to arrange for the two boys to visit his accommodation.

Police say they recovered this cash from Guarin during the raid. They also seized two cellular phones and one electronic tablet from Guarin.

The German and Guarin are now facing charges for violating Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-trafficking in Persons Act, and RA 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.

The teenage boys are now under the protective custody of Marigondon police’s Women and Child Protection Desk.

Also on Wednesday, we reported that police in Cebu arrested a mother for using her own daughter to create cyber-pornography. Today, it has been confirmed she is facing three charges.

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