THE Supreme Court has upheld the legality of using online chat logs and videos in a human trafficking case, reaffirming that such pieces of evidence do not violate an individual’s right to privacy when pertinent to assessing criminal activity.
The high court’s ruling stemmed from the case of Eul Vincent Rodriguez, who was convicted of qualified trafficking in persons under the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003.
Authored by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, the decision concluded that the evidence obtained during an investigation by the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force of Region 7 did not infringe upon Rodriguez’s privacy rights.
Supreme Court
The investigation was initiated in 2013 after a tip-off from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement led local authorities to scrutinize Rodriguez’s online interactions.
During the investigation, Police Officer 3 Jerry Gambi used a decoy account to engage in conversations with Rodriguez across various digital platforms. Evidence presented to the court highlighted that Rodriguez offered explicit services, including live nude shows involving minors, in exchange for payment. These interactions were recorded, leading to a successful entrapment operation where marked money was exchanged for the illicit services.
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