Girl, 17, arrested for stalking actor Janno Gibbs

A 17-year-old girl in Quezon City was arrested before dawn Thursday for stalking actor Janno Gibbs, the Quezon City Police District reported yesterday.

Superintendent Bernabe Balba, chief of the QCPD’s District Intelligence and Investigation Division, said the girl, whose name has been withheld because she is a minor, had also sent threatening text messages to Gibbs for refusing to go out on a "secret date" with her.

The girl, now in the custody of QCPD’s children and women’s desk, had been sending threatening messages to Gibbs and his family for about a month.

She was arrested in an entrapment operation near the corner of Kalayaan Avenue and V. Luna Street in Quezon City.

At first Gibbs allegedly ignored the threatening text messages, which at that time came from a still unidentified woman who was asking for a date with him.

The woman in her text message claimed that she knew Gibbs’ routine and could harm his family if he continued to ignore her.

"When the suspect threatened to kidnap the children, the complainant had no recourse but to seek police assistance," Balba said.

The threatening text messages often lasted up to 24 hours a day.

Gibbs finally went to the police and Balba organized a team to conduct an entrapment operation against the still unidentified suspect.

Balba said they instructed Gibbs to text the woman that he wanted to meet with her and they agreed to rendezvous at a 24-hour fastfood restaurant along V. Luna Street and Kalayaan Avenue.

At about 1 a.m. on Thursday, Gibbs, accompanied by police officers, parked his car in front of the restaurant and saw a petite girl acting suspiciously as if she was waiting for someone.

Gibbs dialed the stalker’s phone number and the girl’s cell phone rang. Police moved in and discovered that the girl was a minor.

The girl claimed that she is a "secret friend" and avid fan of the actor and that one of her friends had sent the threatening messages.

Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, chief of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation Unit, said they are still determining if the girl is indeed a minor. "We are coordinating with the mother of the girl," he said.

Under the new juvenile delinquency law, minors are exempt from criminal liability.