American trader nabbed for ‘cybersex’ operations

ANGELES CITY — Police arrested an American businessman here last Saturday after a search of his Internet café showed that 19 of his "chat ladies," two of them minors, were made to engage in "cybersex."

Senior Superintendent Jimmy Restua, city police chief, said he has informed the US embassy about the arrest of American Richard Oterman, 50, who has resided at Flamingo Hotel here.

The police are still tracking down Oterman’s alleged business partner, Harold Glenn Mathews, and a certain Urich.

Arrested with Osterman was Jane Paguio, 24, a resident of St. Joseph’s Subdivision here.

Restua said the arresting team, headed by Inspectors Erlinda Tullao and Ricardo Arriola, searched Oterman’s DRE Internet café along Meliton street, near the Friendship Highway in Barangay Anunas, on the strength of a warrant issued by Regional Trial Court judge Ofelia Pinto.

The police officers found the employment documents of the Internet café’s "chat girls," showing that two of them are minors.

Upon scrutiny, the computer servers yielded images of the "chat girls" in various naked poses.

All the girls gave testimonies against the suspects before they were referred to social workers, Restua said.

The Fields Avenue area is still regarded as this city’s red light district for tourists, long after US servicemen stationed at the former US Clark Air Base had made it their rest and recreation hub. The Americans abandoned Clark in 1991.

There have been nagging reports that foreigners maintain Internet websites promoting Angeles City as a destination for foreign male tourists seeking "pleasure."