NBI, US Homeland Security rescue 13 victims of cyber porn

MANILA, Philippines - Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) have rescued at least 13 children involved in cyber pornography in a town in Cebu.

The children - aged six to 15 - who, according to authorities, are being peddled by their own mothers to American pedophiles abroad, were rescued on Sept. 6 at various schools in Cordova town.

Czar Eric Nuqui, executive officer of the Anti Human Trafficking Division (AHTHRAD) of the NBI, said the children, who are residents of Sitio Sun-Oc, Barangay Ibabao, even got angry that authorities have taken them into custody.

He said the children told NBI and HSI agents, who were accompanied by members of the International Justice Mission, social workers from Region 7, and policemen that they have done nothing wrong and that their mothers are not forcing them to engage in the trade.

Most of the families in Sitio Sun-Oc earn money from using their children, usually their daughters, to perform live shows online for American pedophiles, for a minimum of $50 an hour, according to AHTRAD agent Roy Zuniga.

‘Not typical child porn’

Unlike the typical child pornography or cyber sex dens where children are asked to perform lewd acts online, the scheme involves children as young as three years old, who are asked to perform sexual acts with their parents, relatives, or playmates.

Photos shown The STAR showed girls as young as three sucking their mother’s breast and licking their vagina.

In another photo, a mother was seen carrying her daughter upside down while licking her private parts.

The crime takes place at home, making it difficult for law enforcers to make arrests.

Nuqui said the sex industry in Sitio Sun-Oc was believed to have been started in 2010 by a woman dubbed as the “Cyber Porn Queen.”

When the demand for children increased, the woman, whose identity the NBI requested to keep anonymous, recruited her daughter’s playmate.

“Then she recruited the mother of her playmate, then her nieces,” said Zuniga.