MANILA, Philippines — The Division of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday stated it filed a number of felony prices in opposition to a public faculty trainer in Tarlac Metropolis accused of possessing and distributing baby sexual abuse supplies and committing acts of lasciviousness in opposition to two boys.
In a 15-page decision signed by Deputy State Prosecutor Olivia Laroza-Torrevillas and Prosecution Lawyer Criselda Teoxon-Yanga, the DOJ discovered sturdy prima facie proof with an affordable certainty of conviction to indict Leoncio Benigno Thiem Tolentino.
Particularly, Tolentino was charged with on-line sexual exploitation of youngsters and lascivious conduct underneath Republic Act (RA) Nos. 11930 and 7610, respectively; RA No. 9775 in relation to RA No. 10175; and the Revised Penal Code.
“The concern instilled in a 6-year-old baby, who considered respondent Tolentino as a trusted authority determine at college, was ample to compel compliance. This manipulation of energy dynamics, coupled with the sufferer’s concern, underscores the coercive nature of respondent Tolentino’s actions and the vulnerability of the minor within the face of such authority,” the DOJ prosecutors stated.
The case stemmed from an investigation that began in June 2024 when the Philippine Nationwide Police’s Girls and Kids Safety Middle acquired data from the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Kids (NCMEC), a US-based group that screens on-line platforms for baby sexual abuse supplies (CSAMs).
In response to the NCMEC report, a person utilizing the e-mail [email protected] was suspected of manufacturing, possessing, and distributing CSAMs through Google Drive.
Authorities later recognized the account holder as Tolentino, also referred to as “Leo” or “Benleigh Thiem,” a public faculty trainer in Tarlac Metropolis.
The police tracked Tolentino’s on-line actions and IP addresses and found folders in his Google Drive containing 46 video recordsdata of kid sexual abuse supplies, particularly involving younger boys.
Additional investigation revealed his use of various digital gadgets, together with smartphones, flash drives and a laptop computer for storing and distributing CSAMs.
The victims, who have been 13 and 6 years outdated on the time of the alleged abuse in 2017 and 2019, stated the respondent used his place of authority as a trainer and the promise of cash or meals to make them comply together with his calls for.
Certainly one of them stated he was sexually abused by Tolentino, his former math trainer, on a number of events whereas the opposite stated the accused, although not his direct trainer, steadily referred to as him to his workplace the place inappropriate touching and kissing occurred.
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