MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino sex trafficker was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes which include livestreaming sex acts on her own daughter and at least eight other children.

The Regional Trial Court Branch 10 in Abuyog, Leyte, convicted the trafficker for qualified trafficking, child abuse, and subjecting minors to online sexual exploitation on February 22, 2023.

She received two life sentences for qualified trafficking and child abuse on top of a maximum of 17 years in prison for sexually exploiting minors online. The court also ordered her to pay a total of P4.5 million in fines.

The Filipino trafficker, arrested by Philippine National Police (PNP) officers back in November 10, 2017, was caught “in the act of offering to perform sex acts on her own seven-year-old daughter and livestream those sex acts from her home in MacArthur, Leyte,” according to the International Justice Mission. The trafficker’s daughter and eight other children were also rescued during the operation.

The investigation and eventual conviction of the Filipino trafficker resulted from collaboration between the PNP and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Information leading to the trafficker’s capture first surfaced from the arrest of Philip Chicoine, a Canadian sex offender who had dealt with the Filipino trafficker. 

The RCMP then determined that Chicoine had exchanged messages and explicit images with the Filipino trafficker, with Chicoine also paying her to livestream the sexual abuse of children.

Chicoine has since been sentenced to 15 years in prison for committing more than 40 sexual offenses against children and possessing more than 10,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse.

Canadian officers involved in the Chicoine case then traveled to the Leyte court to testify about her exchanges with the Canadian sex offender, helping to secure the conviction.

“This conviction is a significant milestone in the global fight against online sexual exploitation of children. It is a testament to the critical role of cross-border collaboration to timely rescue victims and bring perpetrators to justice. As a borderless crime, we must continue to seek borderless solutions,” said International Justice Mission Cebu Director Lucille Dejito – Rappler.com