MANILA (UCAN): Fifty-nine-year-old Australian national, Peter Scully, was sentenced to 129 years in jail by a court in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, the Philippines, for more than 60 cases of the sexual abuse of minors. Along with three Filipinos, he was pronounced guilty of child rape, syndicated child pornography, video voyeurism and trafficking minors as young as 18-months-old.
“The Australian national and his co-conspirators admitted to committing 60 cases of attempted trafficking of minors, including child abuse and sexual assault. They had confessed before the court that they were guilty of the crimes charged,” state prosecutor, Merlynn Barola-Uy, told reporters on November 9.
Scully’s conviction is his second. He is already serving a life sentence for the rape and trafficking of two girls.
Scully, along with his co-accused, enticed many children from poor families in Barangay Bulua in Cagayan de Oro and forced them to engage in oral sex with him from 2011 to 2014.
The prosecution presented photos and sex video tapes as evidence in the case.
Representatives from the families of the victims were present during the pronouncement of the judgment. They expressed their hope that Scully, would not receive any special treatment from prison authorities just for being a foreigner
“After doing the sexual act they would cut short parts of the video and post them online as a preview for other sexual predators, who consumed their products around the world. They marketed their videos around the world and asked for money in credit cards before sending the full sex videos,” Barola-Uy added.
“The videos were uploaded on the Internet on various porn sites. After selling them to individual consumers, they also sell it on porn sites, which make money out of it,” NBI Anti-Cybercrime specialist, Joel Tigno, explained.
Representatives from the families of the victims were present during the pronouncement of the judgment. They expressed their hope that Scully, would not receive any special treatment from prison authorities just for being a foreigner.
“Either they are put in rooms with air conditioners or they are pardoned by the president and transferred to jail facilities in their home country,” the mother of another victim said.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has extended a helping hand to minors and their families in the form of therapy sessions.
“We have communicated our intention to help the minors. We have religious congregations in the Philippines who specialise in the protection of abused minors… we can help them,” Father Edgar Calma, executive director of the Office on the Protection of Minors said.
