Norway, US help arrest cybersex suspect
Norwegian and US law enforcers have helped arrest a man they say exploited children by having them join sex videos, which he then showed to paying foreign clients online, officials said yesterday.
National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran said Norwegian and US law enforcers joined a raid on Thursday that led to the arrest of Anselmo Ico Jr. and the rescue of five of his alleged minor victims in a village in Malolos, Bulacan.
“In Norway, the transnational crime of sexual exploitation of children is highly prioritized... We’re glad to see that your cooperation in this case so far has given us such tangible results,’’ Norwegian police official Sidsel Isachsen told a news conference where Ico was presented in handcuffs.
Norway anti-crime officials notified their Filipino counterparts in early January about the arrest of Norwegian Ketil Andersen, who allegedly purchased child sex videos made in the Philippines, Gierran said in a statement.
Norwegian crime investigators took over Andersen’s Skype accounts to communicate with his contacts in an effort that led them to Ico, Gierran said. A private group, the International Justice Mission, helped authorities in the case.
Ico admitted that he produced the sex videos in which children participated, but said the sex acts were staged.
He faces charges of human trafficking, child abuse, child pornography and cybercrime.