Filipino survivor’s testimony leads to French sex offender’s conviction

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – A 14-year-old Filipino survivor of livestreamed child sexual exploitation testified against a French sex offender, leading to his conviction on 5 May, 2022. The French national had travelled to the Philippines to sexually abuse her in person and also livestreamed her abuse on the dark web.

Two days before a French court sentenced the offender, who goes by the name Jordy59, to 15 years of imprisonment, Jennifer* gave her testimony through videoconferencing from the French Embassy in Makati City.

IJM worked with the Philippine National Police – Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC), French authorities and the Department of Justice for the survivor’s testimony and this significant conviction to happen. Jennifer* travelled roughly 300 kilometers from Aurora Province to Makati City, accompanied by her mother and female officers from the WCPC.

Chief of the WCPC – Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, Police Col. Maria Sheila Portento said,

“The conviction of a French offender, who abused a Filipino minor both online and in-person, is a perfect example of how global coordination can bring victims of exploitation to safety and their perpetrators to justice.”

IJM Manila’s Head of Prosecution Development, Atty. Kathleen Piccio-Labay, who served as Jennifer’s* legal counsel shared,

“Jennifer* made a strong impression on the French prosecutors, judge, ambassador, and staff at the embassy. They were all moved deeply by her story. The online sexual exploitation of children transcends national boundaries. Therefore, combatting this crime type requires cross-border cooperation. This conviction shows that when law enforcement and judiciary between countries work together, justice is unstoppable.”

A French news report described the offender to be a 51-year-old restaurateur who sexually abused a young girl in the Philippines between 2015 and 2017, and then shared the videos on the internet.

On 27 July, 2018, the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court in the Philippines also convicted the Filipino trafficker, Jennifer*’s own uncle, who facilitated for the French offender’s abuse and exploitation of her in person. He made first contact with the French offender on the dark web, and from there arranged for the latter’s in-person abuse of Jennifer*.

The local perpetrator, who happened to be a public-school teacher, was sentenced to life imprisonment for Qualified Trafficking. It was the fastest conviction in a full trial for a case of online sexual exploitation of children, with the conviction achieved only four months after the suspect’s arraignment. Operatives from the PNP-WCPC arrested the local perpetrator on 27 September, 2017, following referrals from the Australian Federal Police and the French authorities.

Online sexual exploitation of children, often involving livestreamed child abuse, is the fastest growing major crime in the world with a hotspot in the Philippines. Since 2011, IJM has worked with Philippine law enforcement to rescue over 932 victims and arrest 292 suspects.

Note to Editors: 

• * Pseudonym
• Stock photo used
• The name of the Filipino trafficker is withheld to protect the identities of the victims related to them.
• The Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, also known as the Luxembourg Guidelines, prescribes the use of the term “child sexual abuse material” or “child sexual exploitation material” instead of “child pornography”, except when referencing the name of statute. Sexualised material that depicts or otherwise represents children is a representation, and a form, of child sexual abuse and should not be described as “pornography.”