An Australian man who sexually abused children in the Philippines has been sentenced to 129 years in prison

CNN:
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An Australian man already sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking and rape in the Philippines has received an additional 129 years in prison for sexually abusing children as young as 18 months old, prosecutors said.

Peter Gerard Scully, his Filipina girlfriend Lezile Margallo and two accomplices were charged with 60 crimes, including child abuse, trafficking, rape and syndication of child pornography, Marilyn Barola-Wee, prosecutor in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro, told CNN. Wednesday.

Margallo was sentenced to 126 years in prison, while the two accomplices received 9 years in prison each.

All four were sentenced Nov. 3 after reaching a plea deal, Barola-Uy said, describing the verdicts as a “sweet victory.”

“The victims-survivors and their families, along with the prosecution team, have been consistent from day one in their determination to fight Peter Scully and fight every (delay) tactic he uses,” the prosecutor said.

“They all want to close this dark phase of their lives and move on,” Barola-Uy added.

The offenses date back to 2012 and are among dozens of charges filed against Scully since his arrest in 2015.

In 2018, the Australian and his former partner Carme Ann Alvarez were convicted Life imprisonment for human trafficking and rape The Philippine State News Agency (PNA) reports that in six cases involving seven children, one of them was killed and buried in a house the couple rented in Surigao City.

The cases against Scully put a spotlight on the Philippines’ ongoing fight against online child sexual exploitation.

The Washington Report in 2020 International Mission of Justice It described the Philippines as a global dark spot for online sexual violence, saying young people are vulnerable because of entrenched poverty, high internet connectivity and opaque international cash transfer systems.

Two years later A study UNICEF, Interpol and ECPAT International, a global network of organizations against child sexual exploitation, found that about 20% of Filipino children who use the Internet and are between the ages of 12 and 17 have experienced some form of online sexual abuse. :

In August, members of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s cabinet told a news conference that the country had declared “all-out war” against online child sexual exploitation.

Justice Minister Jesus Crispin Remulla promised at the conference to prosecute and jail people who sexually exploit minors online, but did not elaborate on how the law and its enforcement could be strengthened.