Whoops, 3 Americans Arrested For 'sex Trafficking'

[Mr Lee]

When are people going to learn that they cannot be alone with minors while in the Philippines unless they are close relatives.CEBU CITY -- An American boxing promoter who was once arrested and jailed for charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness -- charges the court later dismissed -- was arrested again Wednesday.Perry McNeely, 66, was arrested by a team from the Investigation and Detective Management Branch of the Cebu City Police Office, who allegedly found him with a 14-year-old girl inside a hotel in Barangay Lahug at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.Two other Americans identified by Chief Inspector George Ylanan, who led the team, were also arrested. Ylanan said Lopez and Breeding were with McNeely inside the room.AloneAlthough the suspects were not doing anything to the girl, Ylanan said, McNeely and his two American companions still violated Republic Act (RA) 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.Based on that provision, Ylanan said, the police placed McNeely, Breeding and Lopez under arrest.Ylanan said the police launched the operation after they received information that an American was found with a minor inside a hotel.PhotosYlanan's office is working with the Family Juvenile and Gender Sensitivity Section (FJGSS) and the International Justice Mission (IJM) in evaluating the possibility of filing a separate complaint based on RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.Ylanan told reporters Wednesday night that the police found at least 100 photographs of women, some of them nude, stored in McNeely's phone.One of those photographed was the 14-year-old girl, he said.Except for Lopez, McNeely and Breeding refused to comment on the allegation.Section 6, he pointed out, forbids "any person who, not being a relative of a child," from staying "alone with the child inside the room or cubicle of a house, an inn, hotel, motel, pension house, apartelle or other similar establishments, vessel, vehicle or any other hidden or secluded area, under circumstances, which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the child is about to be exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse." They are Michael Lopez, 44, who lives in Barangay Linao, Minglanilla, and Andre Breeding, 46, of Talamban, Cebu City.Lopez, in an interview with reporters at the stockade of the Cebu City Police Office, denied the allegation and accused the police of making up the alleged crime.Lopez said he and the two other Americans were walking in the hallway after a meal when a group of men, whom he later found out to be police officers, waylaid them.Link to the story here

[TheMason]

Yup, this law scares the hell out of me. It is usually only applied to foreigners, at least I've never heard of a Filipino being arrested under this law. Could be that it happens and just doesn't get reported. My nieces live next door and are 5 and 7 years old. In order to avoid any problems, I don't allow them in the house alone with me. If we are babysitting and my wife needs to leave the house for any reason, she takes them with her. If she's going to the market, hanging up laundry, or just talking to the neighbor on the front porch the girls go with her. Our youngest niece is prone to storytelling and lying. I know the law says that relatives are excluded from the restrictions, but in practice the law is whatever the police want it to be. I'm not giving anyone a pretext to extort me with human trafficking charges. I know my actions may seem over the top or paranoid but my time here in the Philippines has taught me that many, many people are willing to take advantage of foreigners any way they can to get some money. Its sad to say, but your immediate family are often the ones you need to watch out for the most. Its not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

[Mr Lee]

And the plot thickensThe police official said they included a case for rape against McNeely, because according to the minor, she was forced by the suspect to have sex with him last Tuesday night, the first day they met.The IDMB recovered a digital camera from the suspects. Ylanan said that the memory card of the camera contained more than 800 images of the minor and other women, some of them in the nude, including some doing sexual acts.There was also a video of a girl and a man, whose faces could not be clearly seen, having sex.