BACOLOD CITY – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Negros Oriental rescued four women, including a four-year-old child, following the arrest of a Norwegian man and his partner for alleged human trafficking during a raid at an alleged cybersex den in Barangay Candau-ay, Dumaguete City on Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Ariel Hueca, head of the CIDG-Negros Oriental, identified the suspects as Ronny Bratlistuen, 42, and his Filipina partner Jessebelle Cometa, 22.
Hueca said that they applied a search warrant for the rented house of a couple after receiving a complaint from one of the four rescued victims.
Hueca said that the 27-year-old complaint reported to Dumaguete City Police Station on April 26 about the couple’s illegal activity, allegedly using her and two others for cybersex operations.
“The said police station endorsed the case to the CIDG, prompting us to conduct a case build-up prior to the raid,” he added.
During the operation, the CIDG, in coordination with the local police and the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD), rescued the complainant and three other victims aged 23, 36, and 4.
They were caught in four separate rooms inside the house.
Authorities recovered during the operation some objects used for simulation, six laptops, three passports, three notebooks, various documents, and a desktop computer used for the cybersex operations.
Hueca said that the couple has been allegedly engaging in the said illegal activity for three years now, but they were transferring from one place to another within the province until they stayed in Dumaguete City, where they have operated for about a year now.
He said that the complainant reported the couple’s activities to the police because she could not take it anymore.
Hueca said that the complainant told the authorities that she was offered by Cometa, who is her friend, a job wherein she can earn P10,000 per week.
However, when she joined them, she was surprised that she was only given P300 per week and was allegedly told to show her naked body and do sexual simulation to their foreign clients online, he added.
The police official said the complainant also alleged that they were obliged to use “shabu” before their performance, although no illegal drugs was seized during the operation except for a lighter and foil.
He said that they are not yet sure if there are still other female victims who are doing such sexual acts for money in the said house since only four of them were seen at the residence at that time.
He also said that the child is not directly involved in the alleged cybersex activities. She’s (child) been living with her 36-year-old mother at the couple’s rented house, police learned.
Hueca said that charges for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 in relation to RA 10175 or the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 will be filed against the two suspects who are now under police custody. (Glazyl Masculino)
