A mother has been arrested after forcing her teenage daughters to perform online sex shows from the age of just 10 years old.
Police caught the 54-year-old woman in Mandaue City, Cebu, while she was live streaming footage of her 15-year-old daughter to a foreigner.
The International Justice Mission, which accompanied the raid, said anti-cybercrime police received a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after the mother sent sexually explicit images of her two daughters to an Australian, who then sent money via Western Union.
In a press release, the IJM said: “The AFP referral was key to the success of the operation. Evidence gathered by the Queensland Police’s Task Force ARGOS indicates that the mother began sending sexually explicit images of her youngest child when the girl was only 10 years old.”
The mother is now facing charges related to child abuse, anti-trafficking and anti-child pornography.
She denies the charges, saying the Australian involved, Stephen James Sheriff, was the boyfriend of her older daughter, who is 25.
What she didn’t know is that Sheriff has already been sentenced to three years prison for his part in the crimes, and the computer user she was broadcasting her daughter’s sex show to was in fact a police officer.
Lawyer John Tanagho, IJM Cebu Field Office Director, said: “Foreigners who purchase child exploitative images create the demand for the sexual abuse of poor Filipino children.
“It’s high time that Australia toughen its laws against those who solicit and access child exploitative material so that – secured behind bars – they can no longer traumatise Filipino children.”
IJM urged the PNP to scale the fight to end the “alarming epidemic” of online sexual exploitation of children.
The US government recently gave the Philippines $3.5 million to help in the fight the sexual exploitation of children (read more here).