Report: British Ex-Radio DJ Arranged to Have Sex With Filipino Children As Young as 13
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A British radio DJ for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is being charged with at least five counts of arranging to have sex with Filipino children as young as 12 years old.
A report in the BBC said the trial of Mark Page, who was a DJ for BBC’s Radio 1 in the 1980s, has commenced. Page, who is now 62 years old, reportedly “used charity and business as a cover” to meet the kids. He is denying the charges.
The five counts of arranging the commission of child sex includes three via webcams in 2016 and two in person when he visited the country.
The charges stem from when monitors on Facebook found suspicious messages involving Page that allegedly exploited children. After police were informed they conducted a search in Page’s home, including his phone, computer, and tablet. The investigation revealed that Page had been in contact with children in the Philippines and sent payments by money transfer.
In one instance, Page reportedly bargained the price of having a 13-year-old boy involved from P3,000 to P2,000.
“3k too much for him,” he reportedly said in a test message.
The BBC report added that Page is also accused of sending explicit messages via the Skype app to a 12-year-old girl, asking a boy to take part during a visit to the Philippines, and arranging a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl in 2019.
It was not immediately clear whether Page followed through with the communications and actually consummated sex with any of the minors.
Defense attorneys say Page denies any of the claims and, in a previous report, say that their client “has had business, military and charitable interests in the Philippines for a number of years."
Because of his denial, a member of the prosecuting team said the defendant is implying that someone else used his Skype and dating app accounts and that somebody else arranged payments.
According to ReliefWeb, the Philippines has become the global epicenter of livestream sexual abuse based on a UNICEF study conducted in 2016. As many as 2.5 percent of all children have had had their nude bodies or sexual activities shown on the internet, the report said.
The crisis was further exacerbated by the pandemic, with the Department of Justice recording a threefold increase in cases of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) since March 2020.
