4 girls rescued in Bogo motel to be turned over

Canadian retiree Levis Talbot is detained in the Bogo police station jail following his arrest last week for bringing four girls ages 9 to 11 to his rented room in the motel Gabrielle’s Court in Bogo city. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

The four girls whom local police said they rescued from a motel in Bogo City will be turned over to the Provincial Council for the Welfare of Children, said Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.

The girls, aged nine to 11, are still under the custody of the Bogo social welfare office.

Magpale said the council was given the green light to take care of the girls who were found in the company of 73-year-old Canadian retiree Levis Talbot, who was visiting the city.

Magpale said Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane, who heads the Regional Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (RIACAT), endorsed the minors to the council.

Two are sisters residing in Bogo city. Their mother and grandmother were detained by the police. The other two rescued girls are sisters from Consolacion town.

“Ipakuha na ang mga bata. Anhi na sila nato,” said Magpale.  (The children will be brought here.  They will stay with us.)

Magpale said that once under the provincial government, the girls will undergo psychosocial intervention.

READ: Bogo forms anti-trafficking group after child sex cases

The children may be brought to Cebu city today after inquest proceedings are conducted in the Bogo city prosecutor’s office.

She said the council will also help in the prosecution of the case against the Canadian national.

The council does not intervene in cases like these unless it’s help is requested or its members conducted the raid, she said: “We respect our colleagues.”

Bogo city has no facility for the safekeeping of children who are crime victims

READ: Arrest in Bogo city a ‘positive response’, says NGO

The Cebu provincial government has no shelter for abused minors at present but it  has partner non-government organizations that take in children referred to them to stay in shelters accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Other groups involved in anti-child trafficking are the Children’s Legal Bureau, International Justice Mission, and the Regional Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (RIACAT), among others.