Filipino child sex trafficker has accomplices – PNP

Arrested pedophile Teddy Mejia worked with others in his sexual exploitation scheme involving minors, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Thursday.

Mejia was presented to the public on Thursday after he was arrested by local police in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the basis of Interpol’s Red Notice.

Brigadier General Portia Manalad, director of the PNP Women and Children Protection Center, said they received a tip through their hotline last year about a Telegram account containing nude photos and videos of the victims and the suspect’s GCash account.

Through an undercover operation, police discovered that there were 111 victims. Police said that almost 30 victims have been rescued since last year.

“From June 2023 to February 2024, there has been almost 30 years of nagkamayroon tayo ng redding, naka-rescue tayo ng. If we make the abuse public, the arrest warrant can be applied,” Manalad said during a press conference. “Doon din naman malaman na ito po ay isang large-scale violation of syndicated dahil pito po silang magkakasama dito.”

(From June 2023 to February 2023, we rescued nearly 30 victims during our rescue operations. We used the victims’ revelations of abuse to file for an arrest warrant. From there, we found out that this is a large-scale violation or a syndicated scheme, because seven of them were behind it.)

Meanwhile, Benhur Abalos, secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Local Government, said Mejia first created a profile of his victims, then lured them with money and then blackmailed them.

“Pino profile niya yung mga bata, yung mga batang loner, mga batang matatalino. Isipin mo ma nine years old, 10, 11, musmos na musmos ‘yan. Pagka-profile niya, iki-clickbait niya, magbibigay siya ng P500, “magpadala ka ng litrato,” he said.

(He profiles the children, including the loners and even the smart ones. Just think about it, he has victimized children from 9 to 11 years old, who are very innocent. After he profiles them, he will lure them with P500 if they send him pictures.)

“Kapag ayaw na ng bata, tatakutin niya ito. There may be no more fakes. So yung bata ngayon papalag,” he added.

(If the child is no longer interested, he will threaten them. He will paint the victims’ faces on naked bodies. So this will alarm the victims.)

Worse still, the victims are also forced to have sex while being filmed, and these videos are sold by the suspects via Telegram.

Mejia is charged with rape of minor children, aggravated human trafficking and violation of RA 11930 or the Anti-Online Sexual Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act.

PNP leader Gen. Rommel Marbil said he would introduce a bill to Congress to punish consumers of sexual exploitation. —LDF, GMA Integrated News