SC upholds life sentences for Aussie, Filipina on trafficking raps

The Supreme Court has upheld the life imprisonment sentences for Australian national Peter Gerald Scully and his Filipina accomplice Carme Ann Alvarez for qualified trafficking under Republic Act 9208.

The high court affirmed the guilty verdicts rendered by the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals, which includes a fine of P5 million each and P600,000 in damages per victim.

The conviction stemmed from a September 2014 incident where Alvarez lured two minors, aged 9 and 12, from a mall with promises of food.

Scully provided the girls with alcohol, forced them to undress, took nude photos, and sexually exploited them along with Alvarez, with the acts documented using a laptop.

The ruling clarified that the absence of explicit pornographic evidence does not preclude a conviction for human trafficking.

The accused-appellants contended that their actions did not constitute trafficking as they lured the girls for their own gratification, not for others.

The Supreme Court rejected this argument, stating that all elements of qualified trafficking in persons were present, emphasizing that trafficking becomes qualified when the victims are children unable to protect themselves from abuse or exploitation.