An American has been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at a hotel in Davao City where he was found staying with four women, three of them minors.
The NBI identified him as Charles Franklin Armstrong who has been charged with violation of Republic (RA) 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, in relation to RA 10176 or the Child Abuse Law.
Armstrong was arrested by operatives of the NBI's Southeastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-SEMRO).
The four rescued women have been turned over to the Department Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the NBI said.
“The operation stemmed from a tip-off that a foreign national, a guest at a certain hotel in Davao City, was seen frolicking around the hotel accompanied by female minors and taking photos of them in skimpy outfit while in the pool area,” it said.
After receipt of the information, it said that NBI-SEMRO immediately sent two undercover agents to conduct surveillance operations.
“The undercover agents were able to solicit information from one of the victims that she is indeed a minor, confirming the veracity of the information,” it also said.
“Further investigation revealed that one of the rescued victims met the Subject thru a dating application last March 2024 and started chatting/communicating up until the present,” it added.
Despite being a minor, the NBI said “Subject Armstrong courted one of the rescued victim.”
“Subject decided to fly to the Philippines for a vacation and promised the victim to meet her family," the NBI said.