Woman gets life term for sexually abusing own kids, other minors
A Taguig City court has sentenced a woman to life imprisonment and ordered her to pay P4.3 million in fines and damages for sexually abusing seven minors—four of them her own children—in exchange for money from online viewers at the height of the pandemic, the International Justice Mission (IJM) said.
In a Nov. 17 decision, the Taguig City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 163 imposed two prison sentences on the woman: life imprisonment for qualified trafficking and reclusion perpetua (up to 40 years) for possession of child sexual abuse material. She was also ordered to pay P4 million in fines and P300,000 in damages.
According to IJM, the conviction was secured with the help of digital evidence to “[spare] survivors from the trauma of reliving their abuse in court and facing their perpetrator.”
The case stemmed from the April 2020 arrest of the 25-year-old woman in Taguig City and the rescue of seven minors during an operation that was conducted based on a tip from the United States Homeland Security Investigations.
It was the second police operation against the online sexual exploitation of children that was carried out while the country was on lockdown due to COVID-19.
The victims, composed of six males and a female between the ages of 3 and 14 at the time, were rescued from the scene. Four of them were the suspect’s own children, the IJM said.
The woman operated under multiple social media usernames, online accounts and contact numbers to conceal her illegal activities.
“This crime thrives in the shadows—often within homes—which is why community vigilance is key to stopping it,” said IJM Philippines’ Community Engagement Director Evelyn Pingul.
