SC upholds life sentence vs Aussie for trafficking minors

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the conviction of an Australian national for trafficking four boys aged 11 to 13.

In a 14-page decision, the Court’s Second Division found the foreigner guilty of harboring and receiving the minors in his residence for prostitution and sexual exploitation.

The SC sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered him to pay a ₱2-million fine, as well as ₱600,000 in damages to each of the victims.

“That the children willingly went to the house and consented to be abused is neither relevant nor exculpatory. Contrary to [petitioner’s] argument on appeal, there was no need for the prosecution to establish that [the minors] were coerced, forced, or deceived into being trafficked,” the SC said.

“As stated earlier, the means by which trafficking was committed is not relevant when trafficking in children is involved,” it added.

The Court said the victims’ testimonies sufficiently established that the foreigner obtained and kept them in his house for sexual exploitation.

“Their clear testimonies more than sufficiently establish that [he] obtained and maintained them in his residence for the purpose of sexually exploiting them,” the SC said.

It added that the minors narrated how the accused sought out children on Facebook and enticed them with offers of food and money in exchange for sexual favors. Some of the victims were brought to the house by their friends and were similarly abused.

The SC said a regional trial court initially imposed the penalty of reclusion temporal, or up to 20 years in prison, citing the accused’s advanced age—he was 76 at the time—as a mitigating circumstance.

The Court of Appeals later increased the penalty to life imprisonment, which the High Court affirmed.

The SC clarified that the accused’s age is only an ordinary mitigating circumstance under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and cannot reduce the penalty of life imprisonment, which is indivisible and has no periods.

It further said that rules on penalties under the RPC, including the treatment of mitigating circumstances, do not apply to special penal laws such as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho, was promulgated in November 2025 and made public in February 2026.—MCG, GMA Integrated News