The French animator, who has been convicted in his country of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), had travelled to the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday, Nov. 4.
BI Spokesperson Dana Sandoval confirmed to journalists that Frenchman Bouhalem Bouchiba, 59, had been to the Philippines. "May at least five travels siya dito (He travelled to the Philippines at least five times)," she said citing the bureau's records.
She also Bouchiba's last travel to the Philippines was in 2011.
Last week, a French court convicted the 59-year-old Frenchman for ordering the livestream of rape of hundreds of preteen girls in the Philippines.
Bouchiba worked on animated films of Pixar and Disney.
The court found him to have paid for the rape and sexual assault of girls aged five to 10 years between 2012 and 2021.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime B. Santiago has assured that the Philippine National Police (PNP) also took action.
“According to our counterpart in the Netherlands, the case was referred to PNP. It was a Mutual Legal Assistance case way back 2021,” Santiago said.