Cagayan de Oro court convicts Australian pedophile Peter Scully

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (UPDATED)  – A regional trial court in Cagayan de Oro City declared Australian national Peter Gerard Scully guilty sexually abusing young children in Mindanao and uploading videos for clients in Europe. 

Judge Jose Escobido of RTC Branch 37 convicted Scully of one count of human trafficking and 5 counts of rape by sexual assault. 

Scully arrived along with a bus-full of other inmates. He was the last one to get off the bus and Rappler tried to talk to Scully but he refused to speak.

Life imprisonment

Along with Peter Scully, his former partner Carme Ann Alvarez was declared guilty of human trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Scully and Alvarez sat together flanked by other inmates and BJMP personnel as the conviction was read.

Alvarez cried upon hearing the conviction while Scully was unmoved.

Scully was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and a 6 to 9 years and 11 months for each of his 5 rape convictions.

“Peter Scully and Carme Ann Alvarez were found guilty of Qualified Trafficking in Persons and to suffer Life Imprisonment and force to pay the amount of P5 million,” Acting Regional State Prosecutor Merlyn Uy said.

Uy added that, as of today, the state prosecutor has 50 more cases against Scully here in Cagayan de Oro City, 8 in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon and two in Surigao City.

When asked what went inside the court room, Uy said that Scully asked to just read out the dispositive portion (sentence). The decision was contained in 70 pages.

Uy said that they have a second batch of cases involving Scully and his former live-in partner Liezel Margallo and other accused and it also involved different children.

“We are supposed to start the prosecution of the second batch today but the court asked for a recess after the promulgation and presentation of evidences (for the second batch),” Uy added.

A representative of the Australian federal police was also present as the conviction was read, Uy also said.

“The lawyers of Scully filed an urgent motion to postpone the promulgation because according to them (the case was) mishandled by the previous defense and Peter Scully was deprived of their opportunities to present evidence, but that was already ruled over by the court even before the old set of lawyers, so it was again denied,” Uy said.

“We are very happy for these particular decisions because this is a victory for us, especially for the children who were victimized and those who are searching  for justice,” Uy went on to say.

Scully’s crimes

The justice department in 2016 recommended the filing of charges against the Australian pedophile and his accomplices. Their syndicate engaged in cybersex operations, using children below 12 years old – including a one-year-old.

Six of the cases involve two minors – Daisy and Queenie – who were lured by Scully and Alvarez. Daisy and Queenie were abused by Scully, who made them dig their own graves. The hostilities against the  children spanned a week.

According to testimonies of 45 witnesses, the sexual abuses were filmed and uploaded on exclusive pornography websites, with payments collected from the viewers through money transfer.

The incidents took place from April 2011 to September 2014. Scully was arrested on February 20, 2015, following a global manhunt.

RTC Branch 37 Judge Jose Escobido also ordered the takedown of “Daisy’s Destruction” video from the internet which the Philippine National Police Anti CyberCrime Group issued on May 2017.

Protecting the victims

The PNP-ACCG reiterated that the videos produced by Scully are under Special Protection Order and anyone found to have it in their possession and sharing it can and will be prosecuted.

Uy also said possession and circulation of pictures and video such as those produced by Scully is against the law and constituted a punishable offense under Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

Bantay KASO (Kagay-anons Against Sexual Offenders), a network of NGOs who kept close watch during the trials,  called on Facebook to strictly enforce the protection order and report any online accounts found to share said videos and photos to the authorities.

“While we celebrate the conviction, we should not be complacent, this case should tell us parents, teachers and all that we are the first line of defense in protecting children from online predators and exploiters,” Atty Perfecto Mendoza, head of Bantay KASO said.

“We must stop people like Peter Scully and his network of customers all over the world,” Mendoza added. – Rappler.com