FOR sexually exploiting their own children, a couple was convicted of trafficking persons through plea bargaining last July 19.
Judge Mercedita Dadole-Ygnacio of Mandaue City Regional Trial Court, Branch 28 sentenced the two accused, who were charged with qualified trafficking in persons, to 15 years of imprisonment and a P500,000 fine. They were also ordered to pay the victims P100,000 in moral damages.
The couple was on trial for sexually exploiting their three young children to foreign customers through livestream video online in exchange for money.
They were apprehended at their home in Cordova town on Mactan Island on September 4, 2013 during an entrapment and rescue operation conducted by police operatives led by Senior Insp. Sheryl Bautista.
The three children are now in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7). The children’s psychologist also facilitated a debriefing session between the convicted parents and the victims after the promulgation.