The conviction of Peter Gerard Scully, an Australian sex offender, along with his cohorts, is a victory for the many child victims and victim-survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation, Senator Risa Hontiveros said.
“We also laud our brave law enforcers who first captured Scully and his co-accused to hold them to account,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Thursday, November 10.
“This is a warning to all Filipino and foreign perpetrators of OSAEC and human trafficking that justice will catch up with you. You will all be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” the senator said.
This is a second conviction for Scully who is already serving a life sentence for the first batch of criminal case involving rape and trafficking of girls.
Scully has been meted a 129 years imprisonment for a child sexual abuse case involving victims as young as 18 months.
“Our fight against human trafficking and Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) is only becoming more complex due to the nature of digital platforms,” Hontiveros lamented.
“Perpetrators have exploited the interconnectedness of our world. Scully himself recorded and uploaded his exploitative materials online, while sadly being aided and abetted by locals,” she said.
But the lawmaker said Scully’s case only highlights the importance of implementing the recently passed Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) Law and supporting the Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2022.
“The Anti-OSAEC Law, which I authored, imposes additional duties on internet service providers, social media networks and online financial intermediaries and requires them to be more proactive in preventing and reporting OSAEC cases, including those perpetrated by criminals acting anonymously,” she said.
On the other hand, she said the Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2022, empowers law enforcers to be more agile in surveillance and entrapment operations.
“Child abuse, human trafficking, and all its permutations, will never be tolerated in the Philippines. Let’s continue to work together to guarantee that every Filipino child grows up in a safe community,” she stressed.