Rescued kids to spend Christmas at center

THE children who were rescued by authorities from a couple engaged in cyberpornography in Cordova town last week  will spend  Christmas at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) center in Cebu City.

“There is a family member involved in the case  which is a  legal concern. There is also a need for a family assessment,” said Emma Patalinghug, DSWD-7 child and youth welfare program specialist.

The center will hold a  Christmas party next week for all children in their custody.

So far, the rescued children have settled in.  The eldest, a  15-year-old is still ho is still adjusting.

“It is not easy to sleep on scheduled hours  and follow the structured activities if they were exposed to a different lifestyle in the outside environment,” Patalinghug said.

So far the children have not yet been asked if they want to go home.

Patalinghug said they also negotiated with the Department of Education (DepEd-7) for a separate schedule of classes for the wards.

The agency  also assess if the one-year-old son of an arrested teenage mother will continue to stay with  his grandmother.

The 18-year-old mother Jaimie (not her real name) was arrested last Dec. 5.

She was caught taking a video of  her naked 10-year-old niece using a mobile phone when agents of the National Bureau Investigation (NBI-7) arrived.

Jaimie said she started taking lewd photos and vidoes of herself  and selling them online last year, and recruited her niece. The US Homeland Security Department  was able to track her down and set up a sting operation  via Facebook.