A Philippine court recently convicted an American for large-scale qualified trafficking of persons three years after he was arrested on allegations of sexually abusing children and selling footages of the abuse online.
“May 26, 2020 will be a date that will long be remembered as David Timothy Deakin will go down as the first foreigner to be convicted for trafficking offenses through online proceedings in the Philippines,” said a statement from the International Justice Mission issued on Thursday.
Deakin was declared guilty of large-scale qualified trafficking in persons and was sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P 2 million, IJM said.
He was also ordered to pay each victim the amount of P 500,000 representing moral damages and an additional P 100,000 as exemplary damages as civil indemnity for his crimes.
Judge Irineo P. Pangilinan, Jr. rendered the decision thru video conferencing from Branch 58, of the Regional Trial Court in Angeles City, Pampanga.
The high-profile case grabbed the national headlines two years ago as the actual arrest was even reported by local and international media outfits, putting the crime of online sexual exploitation of children in the global spotlight. Despite being a tech savvy offender, Deakin was still caught thru global cooperation efforts with foreign law enforcement.
On April 20, 2017, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division led by its chief, Lawyer Janet Francisco, arrested American citizen Deakin in his rented house in Angeles City, Pampanga where he was found in possession of hard drives containing child sexual exploitation materials, sex toys and drug-use paraphernalia. A referral from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that Deakin was sexually abusing Filipino children, recording the abuse and selling it to foreign customers online.
“Let this sentence be a message to OSEC criminals: this is a war you can’t win. We at NBI-AHTRAD and NBI as a whole, are strongly pursuing those who abuse our children and exploit them through the internet.
You will not get away with this,” said Francisco, referring to the unfolding of events that followed Deakin’s arrest. She commended her unit and the entire National Bureau of Investigation working together as a team to get the job done.
IJM supported the rescue operation and its lawyers in collaboration with the Angeles City Prosecutor’s Office which have been supporting the litigation against Deakin until this conviction.
“To behold this e-conviction of a high-profile criminal in the middle of a pandemic is so inspiring. The journey we had to take to ensure David Timothy Deakin’s accountability was fraught with so many legal challenges and in the process of securing justice for the victim-survivors, caseworkers from the law enforcement, social
services and prosecution teams have been exposed to hundreds of traumatic child sexual exploitation materials but in the end, righteousness prevailed. We thank our LE partners, the NBI-AHTRAD and
US FBI, without whom the prosecution of this case would not have been successful. This proves that international cooperation is truly indispensable in fighting a hidden crime that transcends national borders,” said Lawyer Kathleen Piccio-Labay, senior lead lawyer for prosecution development from IJM’s Manila field office.
IJM social workers have taken care of eight of Deakin’s victims—all of whom are now on the road to recovery and restoration. Upon receiving the news about Deakin’s sentence, one of his victim-survivors said “Magandang balita po yan. Mabuti naman at wala na syang mabibiktima. Salamat sa Diyos.” (This is good news. It’s good because he won’t be able to victimize anyone anymore. Thank God.)
Milissa Hilario, a social worker from the city’s Social Welfare Development Office in Angeles also expressed her happiness towards the conviction.
IJM National Director, Lawyer Samson Inocencio, Jr. recalled how the case was one of the more complex cases to prosecute.
“This conviction came out at an unprecedented time of pandemic when things seemed to have come to a stop as people are quarantined in their homes, but justice cannot be stopped. More than ever, our justice system should continue to work to protect vulnerable children who are unsafe during the lockdown, and that criminals are made to account for their crimes. We commend the Philippine courts for their relentless work amidst a pandemic,” said Inocencio.
