CEBU CITY — Seven children, including a one-year-old baby, were rescued from an alleged cybersex den in Barangay Luz, Cebu City Wednesday afternoon, July 13.
Operatives of the Women and Children Protection Center-Visayas Field Unit (WCPC-Visayas) arrested the alleged mastermind of the cybersex den.
Police Major Niño Lawrence Ibo, officer-in-charge of the WCPC-Visayas, said the woman will be charged for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act or Republic Act No. 10175.
Police withheld the identities of the suspect and the rescued children for security purposes.
The rescued children have been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas, Ibo said.
Ibo revealed that Wednesday’s operation was an offshoot of a 2020 raid in which some arrested individuals implicated the woman in cybersex activities.
“We were supposed to entrap her back then but her cybersex activities stopped because of the Covid-19 restrictions,” said Ibo.
Ibo said as the restrictions eased up, the woman resumed her illegal activities.
Last June 22, personnel of the WCPC-Visayas posed as customers and offered $20 to see explicit photos.
It was learned that the suspect would offer to send nude photos of herself to foreign clients.
There were also instances when the woman sent photos or videos of minors to her clients.
“We are verifying if the infant was included in the transactions they are considered ‘children at risk,'" Ibo said.
Ibo said further investigation will be conducted to determine the nationalities of the foreign pedophiles who transacted with the suspect.
Ibo said the WCPC-Visayas is monitoring other possible cybersex activities in Metro Cebu.
With the recent operation, Ibo advised parents to monitor their children’s online activities to prevent them from falling prey to online sex exploitation.
“This is alarming especially because the usual victims are minors."