A descriptive study on Cybersex, Audio-Visual Sex Scandals, and Child Pornography

There are increasing incidents, on the other hand, of individuals exposing themselves to others for free or fee, through web cameras, without the benefit of a website exclusively made for that purpose. Said exhibitionists are found in most popular chatrooms such as those of Yahoo! Chat. Inasmuch as web camera access may either be set by the broadcasting exhibitionist as either open (free) or by permission, it is possible to require payment before permission is given. ^{[ 128 ]} Inasmuch as these exhibitionists do not have licensed credit card transaction facilities of their own, the mode of payment is made through “pasa-load” or “e-load,” or similar methods of money-remittances over mobile phones. The price range goes as low as fifteen (PhP 15) pesos to the usual three hundred (PhP 300) pesos. Others require pre-paid phone cards access numbers of certain phone load values or pre-paid Internet access information of specified value, before anyone interested may be given permission to view the exhibitionist exposing herself.

The Dumaguete Sex Scandal is a video which shows three women having sex with their boyfriends on different occasions in a bunkhouse in Dumaguete. This scandal, which caught the ire of women in Dumaguete, seemed to be a connivance between the male partners and the cameraman in taking the video, with the girlfriends completely unaware of the whole setup. The Dumaguete Scandal video appears to have been filmed as early as 1999. At that time the film was taken, the women were still single. One of them tried to commit suicide, while the two others have left the city with their reputation torn or ruined. The women were victims of their love for their boy friends at that time, not knowing that they were made mere commodities in a business venture of merchandising a pornographic video.

It appeared that the businessman who runs the lodging house placed a hidden camera in one room that he allowed to be rented at a very low price or discounted rate. This businessman recorded the sexual acts of lovers inside this room. In some occasions, without the knowledge of the businessman, his cameraman invited male friends to bring their girlfriends to do the sexual acts as the camera rolled on. The cameraman and the male friends then put several recorded sessions together into one-hour shows, duplicated and sold these initially in Mindanao. Four years later, the pornographic videos had reached local video shops. The popularity of the video increased after politicians started to denounce the video and started investigating and charging people who were believed to be responsible for its production.

Subsequently, the city filed charges against Engineer Jonathan Lim, owner of the bunkhouse, Noli Banagudos and Nicolas Siloterio, after a “vital witness” surfaced. Witness Victor Empleo – who claimed to be a close friend of Engr. Jonathan Lim, the owner of the house in Barangay Daro where the sexual activities were supposedly filmed – presented to the media some revelations of the businessman’s “operations” at the bunkhouse. However, Empleo later withdrew his affidavit. The case against Lim, Banagudos, and Siloterio is pending. Empleo, on the other hand, was charged for perjury.

2. La Salle Sex Scandal ^{[ 131 ]} , also known as Secret of Makati

Two teenagers captured their sexual tryst in a video. The usual circulated copy contains 3 scenes, although the 1st and 2nd scenes are sometimes taken as a single scene. The first (combined) scene involves a bald guy “Leo” and her girlfriend having sex in a motel, while the second scene involves a lesbian scene by the girlfriend and another female, with “Leo” outside of the room. The tape runs for about 70 minutes. Some unverified reports provide that there is a third scene, which involves the two teenagers again but now inside the guy’s room. The tape was meant for the couple’s enjoyment, not for mass consumption. The video was said to have been videotaped in 2001, and was allegedly sold for P35,000.

The identity of the actors and actresses are not known publicly. The public assumes the actors to be students of La Salle when the video was taken. A popular rumor is that the male was a student of DLSU-St. Benilde while the main female was from St. Scholastica. Some believed that the video was first uploaded on the Internet inasmuch as a couple of yahoogroups or e-groups had a copy of such video before the video pirates in Quiapo and Greenhills got hold of it. Another account provides that the video, supposedly in the private collection of “Leo,” along with other pornographic materials, was mistakenly lent to a friend, who circulated the video to the public. There are conflicting rumors whether the main actress actually committed suicide, or not, after the scandal broke out.

3. Boarding House Scandal, ^{[ 132 ]} also known as Cebu Scandal or Bisaya Bang-Bang

The show Correspondent exposed the secret porn activities of a father-daughter team. The daughter would invite her classmates over at their place for a swimming party or a cozy retreat (“tambayan”), making sure they were couples. Couples get lustful and do it in the bathroom while taking shower, or in the bedroom. The father films the whole thing from peepholes; the videos becoming part of the private collection of the father. The modus operandi of the father was exposed when the friends of the daughter heard movements in the next room, when they were assured that they were alone in the house. The friends called upon neighbors who apprehended the father, while attempting to escape by climbing a wall, and after he has tossed a bag-full of pornographic tapes over the fence. Tricycle drivers got hold of VHS tapes, and these were sold to enterprising video pirates who mass-produced them.

4. Quezon City Scandal 1 to 3 ^{[ 133 ]}

This scandal comes complete with cast and crew, starring GROs, shot in KTVs in and around Metro Manila and produced by Silverado Entertainment. The videos appear to have long been in circulation, except that it is only now that it proliferates in increased rates due to CD technology, the Internet, and the resourcefulness of video pirates.

The Diana Zubiri MMS clip circulated in late 2004 and was the first to generate interest as to the use of the mobile phones as a conduit of such kind of content. The short video appears to have been clandestinely captured through a video-capturing enabled mobile phone by one of the crew participating in a photo-shoot, featuring Diana Zubiri, possibly for a calendar or a magazine. The camera showed the layout of the studio and focused mainly on the breasts and pubic areas of Miss Zubiri.

2. Francine Prieto MMS Clip

The Francine Prieto MMS clip circulated not long after Diana Zubiri MMS clip circulated in late 2004. The video features segments of the photo-shoot of Francine Prieto that was made in South Korea. The individual who circulated the clip to Philippine mobile phone users even incorporated music to the video.

3. The Mahal MMS Clip

The Mahal MMS clip circulated soon after, with Mahal (a midget actress) sitting on the toilet bowl. Mahal appears to be aware of the camera as she waved to it. A lot of media practitioners and showbiz personalities lambasted the circulation of the clip in the market, emphasizing that it was “outrageous, not delicious.”

4. Ethel Booba MMS Clip(s)

The Ethel Booba MMS clip circulated widely early February 2005, with an image of Ethel Booba (although her hands and arms were covering her face for most of the video) stimulating herself with her fingers. Other clips appear to be less circulated, such as those which show Alex Crisano, with his prominent tattooed arm, lying beside Ethel Booba. The video(s) circulated allegedly after Crisano had his phone repaired in Greenhills, where the technician handling it discovered, took, and circulated the videos to other people. ^{[ 134 ]}

Accounts of perpetrators charged due to child pornography are found in various online newspapers from Australia, United States, and the United Kingdom. Among them are

1. In October 1995, Anthony Richard Carr, 43 years old from Seaforth, New South Wales, Australia, was the first person charged under the Child Sex Tourism Law of Australia for offenses committed against a 5-year old girl in the Philippines. Carr was initially arrested for offenses committed in Australia. A search of his home by the police yielded child pornography involving children in the Philippines. A joint Australian and Philippine investigation team found that Carr visited the Philippines to have sex with children and had paid money to a man to use his 5 year old niece in a pornographic video. Carr was sentenced to 6 years in jail by an Australian court for offenses committed in the Philippines and Australia. ^{[ 143 ]}

2. On 10 January 2001, Durham Wragg, 56 years old from Sheffield, United Kingdom, was convicted in the England for indecency and smuggling obscene material for 30 months. It appeared that, in 2000, he used Home Office headed paper, belonging to the former prime minister, Sir Edward Heath, to type a letter for Philippines immigration officials stating he was of good character and was going abroad to get married. He instead went to a resort outside Manila and filmed boys between 8 and 16 in his hotel bedroom. Wragg was caught at Manchester airport in May 2000 when police, searching his bag, found a camcorder. ^{[ 144 ]}

3. On 7 June 2002, Raymond Colin Smith, of New South Wales, Australia, was convicted under the child sex tourism law for committing 3 sexual acts with two (2) 6-year old girls in the Philippines. Smith traveled to the Philippines on the Christian Charity the Mercy Ship. He sexually molested 2 girls and produced pornography. Smith’s manager discovered this abuse and sent him back to Australia for prosecution fearing Smith may receive a death sentence if prosecuted in the Philippines. Smith was sentenced by an Australian court to 3 years jail and will be eligible for parole after 21 months. ^{[ 145 ]}

4. In October 2002, Bernard Lawrence Russell, a resident of San Diego, California, USA, traveled to the Philippines with the intent to engage in sexual activity with minors and, while in the Philippines, produced child pornography for the purpose of importation into the United States. On 3 December 2003, he was charged in California with traveling in foreign commerce with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile, producing child pornography, and possessing child pornography for importation into the United States. He faces up to 45 years imprisonment if convicted on all counts. In addition, he is subject to a fine of $250,000, a mandatory special assessment of $100.00, and a three-year term of supervised release per count.^{[ 146 ]}

5. In April 2003, Gordon Thomas, 29 years old from Glen Burnie, Baltimore, USA was arrested after investigators discovered he’d made a sexually explicit videotape of a child who lived next door to him., a child he was baby-sitting at the time. Investigators also found that he’d ordered child porn videos from the Philippines and had thousands of images on his computer. He pleaded guilty in June 2003 to sexually exploiting a minor by producing child pornography. He faces 10-year term in federal prison for producing child pornography, and is to serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison, when he will have to register as a sex offender. ^{[ 147 ]}

6. In October 2003, John W. Seljan, 85 years old, was arrested in Los Angeles, California, USA as he attempted to board a flight to the Philippines. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began its probe in August 2003 after border inspectors intercepted correspondence to two Philippine girls with ages 9 and 12 indicating that he planned to have sex with them there. At the time of his arrest, Seljan was found to have pornographic materials, sexual aids, and nearly 100 pounds of chocolates in his luggage. On 19 November 2004, Seljan was convicted on a total of 6 counts. Sentencing is scheduled for March 2005. Seljan faces a maximum sentence of 270 years in prison. ^{[ 148 ]}

7. In July 2004, Ronald Morris King, 54 years old from Nelson Bay, New South Wales, Australia was arrested by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and charged with 8 offenses, including 6 child sex tourism offences and offences relating to the importation of child pornography. The charges involve the alleged sexual abuse of two Filipino girls which allegedly occurred during a recent trip to the Philippines. King was first identified at the airport on his return from the Philippines with a range of photographic material in his luggage. He was later arrested after his home was searched and explicit photographs were found. King was refused bail and is due to face court. ^{[ 149 ]}

8. On 19 November 2004, Edilberto Datan, 60 years old, was indicted on child sex tourism and charges of producing, importing and possessing child pornography. He was arrested on 4 November 2004 as he returned from a two-month trip to the Philippines. Four (4) memory sticks, taped inside a jeans pocket of Datan’s luggage, were found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Los Angeles International Airport and were found to contain approximately 100 sexually explicit images of Filipino boys. A search of Datan’s home later revealed an extensive child pornography collection. Datan denied any inappropriate sexual contact with them. ^{[ 150 ]}

B. Local Prosecution

In July 2004, seventy (70) children, aged 5 to 14, were rescued from a child pornography ring during a raid in Los Banos, Laguna, resulting in the arrest of seven people, including a Japanese national, ^{[ 151 ]} a certain Noritaka Ota, alias Tony. The children were lured into having an excursion, where thirty (30) children were later separated from their chaperons and were being filmed. The children were made to believe that they were modeling and are being paid P10,000. Only 6 nude pictures were taken but were sufficient to prove that the perpetrators were into illegal trade. ^{[ 152 ]} This incident prompted the Representative to the Philippines of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to issue a statement highlighting the widespread reality of child pornography in the Philippines.

Still, according to Alex Ramos, a member of the technical working group pursuing the bill being introduced by Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal – to mete stiffer penalties on people caught distributing, creating, and purveying child pornography in the Philippines in various media including the Internet – many cases involving child pornography have been dismissed; and claimed that more than 20 cases involving child pornography that have been dismissed by courts in the last three years. Most of the courts’ ruling implied that mere possession of child pornography is not illegal.^{[ 153 ]}