The Department of Justice building in Manila on September 7, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173077847656020220907-doj-facade-GC-1.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Department of Justice building in Manila on September 7, 2022. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the conviction of 59-year-old French national Bouhalem Bouchiba sends a &quot;powerful message&quot; against child exploitation, adding the government will go after Bouchiba&#x27;s Filipino accomplices.</p><p>Bouchiba is a French graphic artist sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering the online rape of hundreds of pre-teen girls in the Philippines, the Department of Justice said in a statement.</p><p>Bouchiba was found guilty of directing the online sexual abuse of young girls in the Philippines from his home in France.</p><p>The DOJ said Bouchiba paid two women in the Philippines between 2012 and 2021 to rape and sexually assault girls as young as 5 to 10 years. The acts were recorded and shared on various online platforms.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/26/over-300-million-children-a-year-face-sexual-abuse-online-study-713" id="isPasted">Over 300 million children a year face sexual abuse online: study</a></div><p>Europol or the European Union’s law enforcement agency, also sent alert to authorities about suspicious money transfers to the Philippines.</p><div><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">&quot;The government will continue to work diligently with international partners to ensure that offenders are brought to justice and that our children are safeguarded from such crimes,&quot; Remulla said in the DOJ statement.</span></div><p>The DOJ stressed that child exploitation will never be tolerated and that the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Philippine National Police and the National Coordination Center Against Online Sexual Abuse and Expolitation of Children and Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Materials are working to investigate the case and prosecute the Filipino facilitators of the crime.</p><p>Remulla also stressed that fighting human trafficking requires a &quot;whole of nation&quot; approach involving NGOs, telecommunications companies, private citizens and international partners. </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/06/21/pope-expresses-shame-at-french-sex-abuse-scandal" id="isPasted">FROM THE ARCHIVES: Pope expresses &#x27;shame&#x27; at French sex abuse scandal</a></div><p>More than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, according to the first global estimate of the scale of the problem published this year.</p><p>Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found in May that one in eight of the world&#x27;s children have been victims of non-consensual taking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past 12 months.</p><p>That amounts to about 302 million young people, said the university&#x27;s Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, which carried out the study.</p><div><strong>—with Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5hXeYiy0bI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KNvUc_Awtmg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the conviction of 59-year-old French national Bouhalem Bouchiba sends a "powerful message" against child exploitation.</p>

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the conviction of 59-year-old French national Bouhalem Bouchiba sends a "powerful message" against child exploitation.

DOJ to go after Filipino contacts of French man convicted of sexual abuse of children | ABS-CBN

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DOJ to go after Filipino contacts of French man convicted of sexual abuse of children

DOJ to go after Filipino contacts of French man convicted of sexual abuse of children

Adrian Ayalin,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 05, 2024 12:22 PM PHT

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