Dutch investigation helped identify two child sex abuse victims in Philippines

Information from a Dutch investigation into child pornography helped the Philippine police to free two children from a sexual abuse situation this week. A 34-year-old Philippine man was arrested for offering the two young girls to customers around the world for online sexual abuse, the Dutch police said in a statement.

The information came from an investigation dating from 2016. A Dutch man was caught abusing two children online - he paid to have underage girls perform sexual acts in front of a webcam. The Dutch police were able to trace the probable identity of the person who offered the girls online and shared this information with the police in the Philippines.

With the support of a Dutch liaison who was sent to the Philippines to help fight against child sex tourism, the Philippine police launched an investigation. That led to the arrest of the 34-year-old suspect this week. The two girls, aged 8 and 11, were rescued and taken to a shelter.

According to the police, it is not yet clear whether the man also abused more girls. "It is certain, however, that he had clients in the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Scandinavia and Germany, among others", the police said. "The total size of the customer base is still unknown."

All available information about the Philippine man's customers will be shared with the authorities in the countries where they are from.