In an exclusive interview with The Filipino Times, Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. said the primary purpose of his visit to the UAE is to bring back to the Philippines a Filipino sex offender wanted for sexually exploiting 111 female children, some as young as nine years old.
Abalos highlighted the crucial assistance the UAE government has provided, which led to the successful capture of the child sex offender.
The suspect, identified by the alias “Teddy Mejia,” was apprehended by the UAE police authorities following efforts by UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior His Highness Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the DILG, and close coordination with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in Singapore.
The modus operandi
According to Brig. Gen. Portia Manalad, director of the Women and Children Protection Center, Mejia lured their victims into taking photos of themselves in their school uniforms and sending these photos in exchange for P500, which was transferred via a mobile payments service.
Mejia and his group meticulously profiled their victims, who were loners spending considerable time online, and most were found to be high academic achievers. The average age of these victims was 13 years old, and they were identified to be from the cities of Metro Manila, Baguio, and Bacoor, Cavite as well as Nueva Vizcaya, Leyte, Bulacan, and Quezon provinces.
The probe into Mejia’s operation revealed that when the group demanded additional photos from the victims, they would begin blackmailing them by deepfaking their images with explicit content and threatening to release these altered photos unless the victims complied with further demands, including going to a certain place where the victims would then be raped by the cohorts of Mejia based in the Philippines. The group’s mastermind, Mejia, also used six different personas on Facebook to contact the victims, Manalad said.
Of the identified victims, five have been confirmed to have been sexually abused. The assaults were filmed and livestreamed on the dark web, with copies sold on Mejia’s public channel on Telegram. Thousands of child sexual abuse or exploitation materials (CSAEM) were discovered during the investigation.
The group’s clients were found to be from various countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Denmark, Germany, France, Singapore, and the US. Their locations, phone numbers, and financial bank accounts have now been identified.
Twenty-eight of the victims have been rescued. Abalos directed that the victims as well as their families be given psychological counseling and support services.
Meanwhile, Manalad said that Mejia has been in Dubai since 2021. Three of the other suspects who were with Mejia have already been arrested, while two have managed to flee abroad.
It was reported that Mejia had also previously been arrested for violating RA 7610 and for a statutory rape case in 2014 and 2015, but the legal charges were dismissed for technical reasons.
He was apprehended in Dubai, UAE based on two Red Notices from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Interpol.
Charges filed against Mejia are seven counts of violation of RA 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), RA 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act), seven counts of violation of RA 11930 (Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act), and one count of rape.
Mejia will be presented to the public when Abalos and his team arrive in Manila today, September 12.
