ONLINE EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN. Nelson Siacor Turayno, 32, of Barangay Luz, Cebu City, poses for a mugshot before booking of his detention at the Cebu City Jail after his arrest last April by joint operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation–Anti-Human Trafficking Division and the Philippine National Police–Women and Children Protection Center. Turayno has been considered by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation as “most wanted criminal” for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) on the “dark web.” (Photo courtesy of Women and Children Protection Center–Visayas Field Unit)
CEBU CITY – The National Bureau of Investigation–Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI–AHTRAD) on Thursday vowed to intensify its efforts to identify and arrest people who are involved in online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC).
This came after the arrest of a 32-year-old man considered by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) as “most wanted criminal” for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) on the “dark web”.
Lawyer Janet Francisco, chief of the NBI–AHTRAD, said the arrest of Nelson Siacor Torayno at his rented apartment in Barangay Luz in this city “was testament to their commitment and resolve to fight the online sexual exploitation of children”.
According to the joint statement, Torayno was arrested last April by the joint forces of the NBI–AHTRAD and the Philippine National Police–Women and Children Protection Center and confiscated “thousands of images, including videos depicting children being sexually abused by an adult, were found in his possession”.
It said that the joint operation was meant to stop Torayno’s illegal operation intending “to sell, distribute, publish or broadcast, committed through the use of information communications technology”.
The two pro-women and children units partnered with the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC), namely, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA), and non- government organization International Justice Mission (IJM), that all supported the operation.
“It was a group effort, and a clear demonstration of how collaboration works, to our advantage. Certainly, there are others like him out there waiting for the opportunity to prey on helpless children. But one thing is more certain, that we are likewise waiting for the opportunity to get them,” Francisco added.
Brig. Gen. William Macavinta, chief of the PNP-WCPC, said it is shameful that Europol's number one on the list of sexual offenders is a Filipino who had abused numerous Filipino children.
The Queensland Police Service referred Torayno’s case to the AFP in September of 2018. The AFP, in turn, referred the case to the NBI and PNP.
As Torayno is now detained at the Cebu City Jail while facing charges in violation of Republic Act 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012), the ICJ said it is now helping a total of eight children who have been rescued.
These children, mostly neighbors and acquaintances, were subject of Torayno’s OSEC operation using the internet.
The joint statement said that as the case was progressing, two girls presented themselves to village officials and “reported how the suspect touched them inappropriately as they walked a narrow alley, and about the suspect’s connections to another three-year-old boy and his two siblings”. (PNA)
