10-year-old girl made to pose for web camera

Housewives Marivic Bensi (left) and Chona Ando are detained in the Lapu-Lapu city jail after their arrest Friday night and Saturday morning. (Norman V. Mendoza)

Two housewives were arrested over the weekend for allegedly coaxing a 10-year-old girl to pose naked for cyberpornography in a house in barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

The girl’s grandmother discovered the secret activity after the little girl came home Friday afternoon and reluctantly told her about being undressed for a session in front of a “TV.”

Hours later, a joint team of the Lapu-Lapu police, the Children’s Legal Bureau (CLB) and barangay captain Isabel Darnayla went to the house of 33-year-old Marivic Bensi in sitio Sudtunggan and arrested her.

The little girl’s aunt, 36-year-old Chona Ando, who had brought the child to her friend’s house, was arrested the next day in her hometown of Cordova pending the filing of charges.

Both women at first denied the allegations, but they had conflicting accounts of why they went online on Bensi’s laptop computer to contact an American friend to ask for money, said Darnayla.

Cases of child exploitation and women using the Internet to offer sex photos or videos of themselves for dollar payments have been on the rise in nearby Cordova town since 2011.

Yesterday was the first case of a cybersex arrest in Lapu-Lapu City.

The little girl was taken yesterday to the Pink Room in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, a special center for the examination and counseling of children and women victims.

Earlier this week, a pregnant housewife in Cordova town and her live-in partner were arrested at home on suspicion that they were exposing their children to to Internet porn chats and live web camera feeds.

The Friday arrest of the first housewife in Lapu-Lapu City took place on the same day a crackdown on human trafficking in Cordova town resulted in the controversial “rescue” of 12 girls and one boy who were pulled out of their schools and households.

The sweep by a joint task force of the National Bureau of Investigation, police, social workers, and the Provincial Womens’ Commission also apprehended five adults, including some parents and relatives of the children.

Authorities said they had to act swiftly because photos of the children turned up in porn websites and the hard drive of a computer seized in a May raid.

The two activities were separate and boldly executed but are sure to stir controversy because they took place without arrest warrants issued by the court.

In the Lapu-Lapu city arrest, barangay captian Darnayla said he had called the attention of Bensi, owner of the computer, more than two years ago for operating an unlicensed Internet cafe in her home, especially since the city governmnet had a campaign to anted to prevent cyberpornography.

“I have monitored about 60 of this kind of home-based Internet enterprises, mostly in sitio Sudtonggan but they never listened,” he said.

The girl’s relative, Ando, is a resident of barangay Ibabao, Cordova, the site of several prior raids for cybersex sessions involving family members and neighbors.

SWIFT ACTION

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza yesterday commended the swift action of police and barangay officials upon learning of the first cybersex arrest in Lapu-Lapu.

“I would like to thank the grandparent of the girl for her vigilance,” she said in a press statement.

“I salute the barangay officials and the police for their quick action. The quick arrest sends a signal that the city will never tolerate such kind of illegal activity to thrive in our place.”

Radaza had earlier bristled over initial reports that school children in Lapu-Lapu city were among those “rescued” in the Sept. 6 operation against human trafficking, especially after two high school students in her city were returned as a cases of mistaken identity.

She said Lapu-Lapu city was doing its part in briefing students and families about the harm of cyberpornography down to the barangay level.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this brutal abuse of our children and women. For those who are thinking of operating cybersex in our city, do not ever attempt to do so. We will run after you and see to it that you will be meted the harshest penalty,” she said yesterday after being informed about the arrest in Lapu-Lapu.

Barangay captain Darnayla said the episode with the little girl was first revealed to the child’s grandmother who asked about her whereabouts.

At first the child, who was seen in the company of her aunt, said they just went to an Internet cafe.But her grandmother pressed for details and the whole story came out.

The child said she was undressed and made to pose naked in front of a “TV”, her way of describing a laptop screen. The little girl said she didn’t like it and insisted on stopping so she could go home.

Her grandmother sought the help of a barangay tanod, who reported to barangay captain Darnayla at 4 p.m.

Darnayla instead advised police intervention. Later in the evening, a response team of Marigondon police, a CLB representative, and the women’s desk of the police office, went to Bensi’s house at 9 p.m. and took her into custody.

Bensi’s relatives protested, saying they wanted to see a warrant of arrest.

The women’s desk represented by PO1 Flor Singson asked the little girl to confirm her story. The child pointed to Bensi, the computer owner, as the one who undressed her while her aunt Chona was a few steps away.

The two women are friends who used to be neighbors living a few meters apart.

Bensi denied the charge. She said she was just allowing her visiting friend to use her laptop to contact an American for money because Ando needed to buy rice.

Ando, on the other hand, said she dropped by to give her friend a facial and was told by Bensi that she had an American friend looking for a young girl. With that, Ando took her niece to her friend’s house.

Bensi, 35, is a mother of three with a 3-year-old son and an eldest son in college. Her husband is a production worker in the Mactan Export Processing Zone.

Ando also has three children and a husband employed as a casual worker.

Both women are based at home.

The little girl’s family got angry after learning that the child was physically violated. They said they would press charges.