For most parents, one of their greatest worries is losing their children — in mind and soul — to sex predators online who lure them into dangerous and unhealthy relationships. These predators contact children through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, secretly grooming them for illegal sexual activities. When worried parents confront their mobile phone-addicted children, they are often met with resistance or even hostility. That is when the bond between parents and children begins to break. In Australia, a new law was passed restricting people under 16 from using such platforms.
Telecommunications corporations (telcos) and internet service providers are enabling online child sexual abuse because they do not install blocking software, despite Republic Act 11930 requiring them to do so. When telco tycoons and government officials enter into mutually beneficial relationships, there is a high chance the law will not be enforced. Our telecommunications commission is a toothless tiger. The result? Our children are exposed to abuse on the internet while telcos — along with their investors and officers — rake in profits. Child safety hinges on these telco owners and operators having moral conscience and spiritual values, which few of them seem to possess. They appear to be driven more by profit than by concern for child welfare.
The battleground to protect children online is now shifting to manufacturers of mobile phones and laptops, as well as to child-protecting legislators. Cybersecurity company SafeToNet has developed and tested software powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It can be installed in a computer or mobile phone’s operating system and is capable of detecting and blocking child sexual abuse material — regardless of its source, including individuals or social media platforms. SafeToNet has clarified that the software does not record or store data, monitor normal content, or identify the user. Its sole function is to block abusive content from reaching children online. A strong law mandating the installation of this software by manufacturers must be passed and enforced.
Refusing to allow such software to be integrated into a device’s operating system may indicate that the objector wishes to permit or access child sexual abuse content. This puts telcos on the spot. Do they want child-safe devices or not? If United States President Donald Trump’s new mobile phone service includes this software, it would likely influence legislation.
Teenagers and younger children currently remain unprotected and are prime targets for online abuse, including grooming and the livestreaming of sexual acts. In many cases, perpetrators are the children’s own relatives who sell these sex shows to foreign customers. Sextortion is also on the rise, with several teenagers having taken their own lives as a result.
Other forms of online criminal abuse include adults contacting children to discuss sexual behavior, requesting or sending nude photos or videos, and persuading them to expose themselves.
This is what happened to Jay, a 17-year-old in Michigan. Jay was contacted through Instagram by someone posing as a potential girlfriend. He began sharing sexually explicit photos. Soon after, he received messages demanding money or else the compromising material would be sent to his family, friends, and teachers. It was clearly a sextortion scam. The Nigeria-based criminals demanded a sum Jay could not pay. As the pressure intensified, they goaded him into taking his own life — which he did. A beautiful young life extinguished by the cruelty and greed of criminals. Hundreds of teenagers die by suicide every year because of such scams. The three people who blackmailed Jay were identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, extradited to the US, and are now serving long prison sentences.
A Catholic priest, Fr. Karole Reward Israel, is currently in prison and on trial in Tuguegarao, Cagayan province, for repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. She stated that he secretly videotaped the abuse and threatened to send the recordings to her family and friends, and to post them on social media, if she reported the crime or resisted him. She eventually confided in friends, and he was arrested. He claimed the acts were consensual.
According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “[i]n 2021 alone, two million children in the Philippines were subjected to online sexual abuse and exploitation. Children reported that they experienced grooming and received offers of gifts or money in exchange for sexual acts. Some were threatened or blackmailed to engage in sexual acts. Due to stigma, disclosure is disproportionately low — despite various reporting channels.”
Despite advocacy efforts from concerned agencies and non-governmental organizations, very few children are rescued from online sexual abusers and referred to therapeutic homes for protection and healing. Government-run shelters are scarce, and successful convictions are rare. The perpetrators are often family members or relatives, and most abuse now occurs via mobile phones connected to the internet.
Few of these online abusers are caught and convicted. Since 1996, children at the Preda Foundation’s therapeutic home for trafficked and sexually abused children have won an average of 10 convictions per year. By 2020, this rose to 20. In 2024, Preda children secured 27 convictions. As of June 15 this year, 10 convictions have been achieved — most in the Family Court of Zambales, presided over by Judge Maribel Mariano Beltran, and the Family Court of Olongapo City, presided over by Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio. The children are ably represented in court by public prosecutors in both areas. Thanks to their efforts, most abusers received life sentences.
Note: Any original information, stories, or news articles posted on this site that are authored by the Preda Foundation and Father Shay Cullen may be shared, copied, or reproduced without further permission, in support of truth, freedom of expression, and the public’s right to know.
LiCAS News was granted permission to republish and adapt this article by Father Shay Cullen in the spirit of truth-telling and the pursuit of justice.
Irish missionary Father Shay Cullen, SSC, founded the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sexual abuse.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.
