An Australian man already serving a life sentence in the Philippines for human trafficking and rape has been given an extra 129 years for sexually abusing children as young as 18 months, prosecutors said.
Peter Gerard Scully, his Filipina girlfriend Lezyl Margallo and two accomplices were charged with 60 crimes including child abuse, trafficking, rape and child pornography syndicate, Merlynn Barola-Uy, a prosecutor in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro, told CNN. Wednesday.
Margallo was sentenced to 126 years in prison, while the two accomplices were sentenced to nine years in prison each.
All four were sentenced Nov. 3 after striking a plea deal, Barola-Uy said, describing the convictions as a “sweet victory.”
“The victim-survivors and their families along with the prosecution team have, from day one, been consistent in their determination to fight Peter Scully and kill every (delaying) tactic he used,” the prosecutor said.
“Everyone wants to close this dark phase of their lives and move on,” added Barola-Uy.
The offenses date back to 2012 and are among dozens of charges filed against Scully following his arrest in 2015.
In 2018, the Australian and his ex-partner Carme Ann Alvarez were sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking and rape in six cases involving seven children – one of whom was killed and buried in one of the couple’s rental homes in Surigao City. , according to the Philippine State News Agency (PNA).
The cases against Scully have shone a spotlight on the Philippines’ ongoing fight against online child sexual exploitation.
In 2020, a report by the Washington-based International Justice Mission described the Philippines as a global hot spot for online sexual abuse, saying young people were vulnerable due to a combination of entrenched poverty, high internet connectivity and opaque international cash transfer systems.
Two years later, a study by UNICEF, Interpol and ECPAT International, a global network of organizations against child sexual exploitation, found that about 20% of Internet-using Filipino children between the ages of 12 and 17 had experience some form of online sexual abuse. .
In August, members of the cabinet of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. stated at a press conference that the country had declared “total war” on the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet.
Justice Minister Jesus Crispin Remulla promised congress to prosecute and jail people who sexually exploited minors online, but did not specify how the law and its enforcement could be strengthened.
