Danish national, aide face trafficking raps

Charges will be filed against a Danish national and his aide today after they were arrested for allegedly having sex with street girls and operating a cyberpornography business at his rented apartment in barangay Tisa, Cebu City.

Police raided the residence of 54-year-old Nicola Arne Jacobsen and rescued three girls aged 10, 11, and 12 in an entrapment operation last Monday evening.

Laptops and cameras believed to have been used in taking lewd photos of the girls were seized by the Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.

Prosecutor Liceria Lofranco-Rabillas, head of the Inter-Agency Council  Against Trafficking at the airport, said Jacobsen failed to present any passport or travel documents.

“The suspect is an undocumented alien. He’s reportedly been in Cebu for over a year now. But he is very well-known in their place,” Rabillas said.

Non bailable

Charges for violating Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection For a Child Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act, Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, and Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 will be filed against Jacobsen before the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office today.

Also impleaded in the case is Jacobsen’s aide Alona Turtosa, 34, who allegedly recruited the girls from Mandaue City.

Since the victims are minors, Jacobsen and Tortosa will be cited for qualified trafficking, a non-bailable offense.

Exploited
The three victims are presently under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Lawyers of the International Justice Mission—a non-governmental agency that fights human trafficking—interviewed and took the victims’ sworn statements that will be attached in the complaint that will be filed against the suspects.

Rabillas said the 12-year-old girl earlier sought the assistance of the Women’s Desk of the Mandaue City Police Office after they were repeatedly exploited by Jacobsen last month.

“She said they had intercourse with the suspect (Jacobsen) almost everyday last December,” the prosecutor said. In return, the girls were given P1,500 or P2,000 after Jacobsen have sex with them.

Rabillas said the girls were also asked to perform lewd acts in front of web cameras.

“When the police arrived at the suspect’s house last Monday, the victims were sniffing solvent,” she said.

Rabillas said the victims were recruited by Tortosa near the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.

“The victims are considered as carton girls,” she said alluding to prostitutes who have sex with customers at the reclamation area in Mandaue City.