Not just school girls, but boys were sexually abused by the Australian tourist who invited several children to his room in a Cordova beach resort over the weekend.
A 14-year-old boy from Lapu-Lapu City said he knew the accused, Peter James Robinson since 2012.
Australian tourist Peter John Robinson (in dark glasses) is escorted by a Cordova policeman to the Provincial Prosecutors Office. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
The foreigner, who was formally charged yesterday with trafficking and child pornography in the Cebu Provincial Prosecutors Office, allegedly contacted the boy by sending him a “friend request” through Facebook.
The boy was grade 3 in a public elementary school in Lapu Lapu city when they first met online.
“At that time, we had many mutual friends on Facebook,” said the boy in his sworn statement. He was one of three teenage boys whose accounts were taken down by the Children’s Legal Bureau (CLB) to support the criminal charges.
The affidavits described how 51-year-old Robinson allegedly took boys and girls in various batches to his hotel room, molested them and had the activity videotaped on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 to 22.
Robinson, who was arrested Tuesday by police in a joint rescue operation with social workers and the CLB, denied harming the children or breaking the law.
Two of the rescued boys are accompanied by a policewoman. Peter John Robinson’s lawyer said no crime was committed because the kids were accompanied by their parents to the resort. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Fifteen minors aged 8 t 15 were turned over to social workers for evaluation and counseling. Most of the kids were school girls.
Charges were filed yesterday against Robinson for qualified trafficking in violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.
Police also charged a 17-year-old girl who helped invite the children and allegedly filmed the sexual abuse.
Although she’s a minor, she can still be held criminally liable if it’s proven she “acted with discernment” or knew that what she was doing was wrong.
The two were presented to the prosecutor at the Palace of Justice but chose not to undergo preliminary investigation.
Assistant City Prosecutor Ethel Miel elevated the charges to the Regional Trial Court in Mandaue City which has jurisdiction over offenses in Cordova town.
Robinson’s lawyer Ferdinand Dungog said he would question the legality of the warrantless arrest.
“We will ask the court to quash or set aside the charges against my client. The arrest was illegal. No crime was committed at the time,” he said.
“He was with minors, who in the first place, were accompanied by parents and guardians,” Dungog told reporters.
CLB lawyer Noemi Truya-Abarientos said they are “seriously contemplating” on filing charges against parents who consented to have their children go with Robinson to the resort.
“At least two parents were mentioned by the victims,” she said.
Investigation continues into the role of parents who knowingly exposed their children to sexual abuse.
Fifteen minors, mostly girls, were rescued from the resort last Tuesday.
Three boys in the group executed affidavits.
One girl, she said, related that Robinson had sex with her. Another school girl told CLB that she was brought by Robinson to Manila.
The police rescued 11 girls and four boys. Two other minors escaped.
Abarientos said the police officers were able to recover a laptop, USB, and cellphone inside Robinson’s hotel room.
The tourist, who said he was an engineer in Metro Manila who would take vacations in Cebu, was charged for “publishing, transmitting, selling, distributing, or broadcasting any form of child pornography.”
He was also cited for “recruiting, maintaining, or receiving a person for the purposes of prostitution, pornography, or sexual exploitation.”
For bringing 15 minors to the resort, he faces violation of the anti-child abuse law.
The law penalizes any person “who shall keep or have in his company a minor, 12 years or under or who in 10 years or more his junior in any public or private place, hotel, motel, beer joint, discotheque, cabaret, pension house, sauna or massage parlor, beach and/or other tourist resort or similar places.”
This doesn’t apply to a person related within the fourth degree to the child or through any bond recognized by law, local custom, and tradition or acts in the performance of a social, moral or legal duty.
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