A man has been arrested in San Mateo, Rizal for allegedly raping a teenage girl and operating an online sex trafficking of females including minors, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday, Sept. 6.

The NBI identified him as Dennis “Baste T. Cansino, who was arrested by the NBI’s Special Task Force (NBI-STF) during the service of a Warrant to Search, Seize and Examine Computer Data (WSSECD) in San Mateo recently.

It said agents of the NBI-STF found “several child pornographic materials and Child Sexual or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) on the electronic gadgets/devices of the Subject.”

“Operatives of NBI-STF immediately apprehended the Subject who initially resisted the arrest but was later on subdued by the operating team,” it also said.  

“The operation also resulted in the rescue of four (4) female victims, one of whom is a minor, and one (1) minor boy,” it added.

The NBI said it acted on information that “a certain ‘Baste’ is recruiting, transporting and harboring women including minors for sexual exploitation under the guise of operating as a legitimate on call/outcall online SPA massage service.”

“Through intelligence gathering, the NBI-STF team was able to identify one of the minor victims, who gave her sworn statement and testified against the illegal activities of Subject Cansino,” it said. 

“The Victim added that she was raped by the Subject when she was only fifteen (15) years old,” it added.

Cansino will be charged with violation of Republic Act (RA) 11930, the Anti-Online Sexual Exploitation, Abuse or Exploitation of Children Act, as amended, in relation to RA 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012; qualified rape under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), as amended; and RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.