Norweigan arrested in Dumaguete cybersex den

A 42-year-old Norwegian and his 22-year-old female partner were arrested in a suspected cybersex den raided by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) -Negros Oriental in Dumaguete City on Wednesday afternoon.

With the validity of the search warrant, operatives, along with City Social Welfare and Development Office officials rescued four women, including a 23-year-old, 27-year-old, 36-year-old, as well as a 4-year-old girl from the cybersex den.

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Sex toys were also recovered from the rented house of the suspects.

Based on the authorities’ investigation, customers abroad paid the suspects in exchange for sexually explicit videos of women.

Authorities clarified that the minor, who is the daughter of one of the rescued women, was not included in the activity.

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The rescued women are now under the care of the city’s Social Welfare And Development Department.

The suspects will be charged with violating the Qualified Trafficking in Persons Act and Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Also read: 50 Filipinos working in international cybersex syndicate arrested

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Cybersex trafficking cases during quarantine

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier urged the authorities to strictly monitor the possible increase of cybersex trafficking cases amid the strict implementation of home quarantine to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Gatchalian says because people are locked up in homes, children are focused online where they can be exposed to harmful individuals.

“Ngayong mas nakatutok sa internet ang mga bata, kailangan nating palakasin ang mga hakbang upang mabigyan sila ng proteksyon at mapanagot ang gumagawa ng krimeng ito,” said Gatchalian.

(Now that children are focused on the internet, we need to strengthen the measures to give them protection and those doing this crime should be held responsible.)

The senator urged the Department of Education (DepEd), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to join forces in protecting children.

“The DOJ Cybercrime Office reported that in 2018, it received 600,000 tips of images and videos of naked, sexualized, and abused Filipino children, an increase of more than 1,000 percent from 45,645 cases in 2017,” said Gatchalian.

The government extended the enhanced community quarantine to areas with high cases of COVID-19 and put the low-risk areas under general community quarantine.