Woman meted 15-year prison term for child trafficking

THE trial court in Cebu has sentenced a woman for 15 years in prison after she pleaded guilty for Qualified Trafficking.

Judge Jose Nathaniel Andal of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 24 ordered the conviction of Cherry Love Taboada, 22, on Wednesday, Aug. 22.

Taboada, who pleaded guilty, was convicted to a lesser offense of Attempted Trafficking in Persons and has to serve 15 years in jail.

She also pleaded guilty to possession of Child Pornography.

She was ordered to pay a total of P650,000 in fines and damages.

Taboada allegedly sexually exploited two girls — aged 14 and 15 — and asked the minors to perform lewd acts and live streamed it online in exhange for money.

She was caught in the act and was arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by operatives from Women and Children Protection Center–Visayas Field Unit (WCPC-VFU) in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City in September 2017.

The minors were then rescued and turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) for rehabilitation.

“This conviction through plea bargaining is especially important because it protects the child victim from potential re-traumatization by having to testify in court about their abuse. A sentence of 15 years is still quite long and sufficient to punish the accused while providing justice and closure for the victims,” lawyer John Tanagho, director of International Justice Mission (IJM) Cebu Field Office, said in a statement.

Based on the IJM’s supported cases, Taboada’s case was the 43rd conviction of child trafficking into online sexual exploitation in the Philippines.