A major Filipino cyber child trafficker was captured in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), by local law enforcement and has been repatriated to the Philippines to waste away behind bars, said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
An arrest warrant was issued for Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia for the violations of Republic Act (RA) 11930, also known as the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse of Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act; RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012; RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175); and for a rape case, according to DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.
More than 111 young girls had fallen prey to Mejia, Abalos revealed in a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on September 12. The girls were 13 years old on average, with the youngest at only nine.
“Nakakabagabag dahil minor de edad na bata ito na walang kalaban-laban (This is disquieting because these are minors who have no means to defend themselves),” Abalos said.
“Itong demonyong ‘to, pino-profile niya ‘yung mga bata. ‘Yung mga batang loner, mga batang matatalino, isipin niyo: nine years old, 10, 11—musmos na musmos ‘yan,” the interior secretary revealed.
(This demon profiles the children. The children who are loners, the children who are smart, think about it: nine years old, 10, 11—they’re so young and innocent.)
After having profiled his victims, Mejia would tell them to send a picture of themselves in exchange for ₱500, sent through GCash. This repeats until the child refuses. Then Mejia would deepfake the child’s face onto a naked body and threaten to spread the picture online should they continue to resist.
There have also been occasions where Mejia would fool his naive victims into coming to him in person. Some of them, he would rape.
“Ang paggahasa ay tine-tape pa at binebenta pa ulit. Hanggang ‘yung mga batang ito slave na. Ganoon kasama ito. Hindi tao ito eh,” Abalos told the media.
(The rape is taped and sold until the child has become a slave. That’s how bad he is. He isn’t human.)
“Mabubulok sa kulungan ‘tong taong to, sinisigurado namin ‘yun (This person will rot in jail, we will make sure of that),” he declared.
Director Police Brig. Gen. Portia Manalad, who was at the helm of the investigation into Mejia’s case, said he had come on authorities’ radar after a tip given through their helpline. The tip included Mejia’s channel and the GCash account he uses to bribe children.
The channel is public, and shows nude pictures of the children. The channel has paywalled “premium” content, which Manalad had an undercover cop access. In total, the victims were tallied up to more than 111.
From June 2023 to February of this year, police were able to rescue about 30 of the victims, from whom they gained accounts of abuses committed.
The disclosures of abuse revealed the illicit activities to have been orchestrated by a syndicate of seven suspects led by Mejia and enabled law enforcement to apply for a warrant of arrest.
An application for an Interpol Red Notice followed to find Mejia, who had gone into hiding. It was approved in April with the help of the DILG head and his UAE counterpart, the Minister of Interior.
It was difficult to track Mejia at first as he was using many different cards and phones, but he was soon nabbed by cops in Abu Dhabi.
Abalos said Mejia was just one out of the many, widespread reports of child exploitation. While some would say the children are only facing a camera and the content produced brings in money, the secretary warned that perpetrators will be imprisoned.
“Hindi kami titigil sa bawat isla, sa buong Pilipinas. Just to end this online child exploitation,” he vowed. “Kaya binabalaan ko, tumigil na ang mga kamukha nitong demonyong to.”
(We will not stop until every island of the Philippines has been scoured of this online child exploitation. So this is a warning: anyone like this demon should stop.)
