'Paedophile sex trafficker' branded a 'demon' by police caught in Dubai

An alleged Filipino paedophile hiding in Dubai who was branded a 'demon' by police has been arrested and deported to the Philippines.

'Demon' child sex trafficker Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia reportedly lured more than 111 vulnerable Filipino children into making lewd videos for money, then sold the clips to 19 foreigners through a Telegram channel.

He fled to Dubai in 2021 and allegedly continued distributing child porn until he was arrested by police acting on an Interpol Red Notice.

The suspect was extradited to the Philippines, where he was presented by authorities to local media in a press conference on September 12.

He was presented by authorities to local media in a press conference on September 12.

Philippine Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said: 'This demon profiles loner children, smart children. Imagine, kids nine, 10, 11 years old, they are very naive. After profiling, he would clickbait them and give them 500 pesos (7 GBP).

'After the kids send pictures, he would threaten them. He would photoshop the child's face onto a nude body for blackmail.

'Some of the victims he would rape and film the rape and sell the video. It will be recorded and will be sold until the children become his slaves. So this is how bad this man is.'

Police said that they have rescued 22 victims across various Philippine provinces as of September 9.

Police Brigadier General Portia Manalad, director of the Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Center, said: 'We received information through our helpline. We were given his channel and online wallet number where the payments are sent.

'The channel is public, and that is where the children's nude pictures can be seen. After that, we investigated and found there was a premium channel with payment. That's when we found there were more than 111 victims. We launched a rescue.'

Mejia is believed to be part of a 'large' syndicate exploiting children in the Philippines. He was previously arrested in 2014 and 2015 for violating the Anti-Child Abuse and Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Laws.

Police said he will face charges of statutory rape, qualified trafficking in persons, and violations of the Anti Online Sexual Exploitation of Children and Anti Child Sexual Abuse Act.

The Philippines has a overseas Filipino worker (OFW) population, with as many as 2.6 million going abroad to work in 2023, data from the Department of Migrant Workers showed.

The diaspora was encouraged by the late authoritarian president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who formalised the Philippines' labour export policy during his regime in the 1970s. Filipino workers were sent abroad to lower unemployment rates - and to quell growing political unrest among educated youths over the Marcos family's excesses.

The practice continues today as more locals flee their rampantly corrupt homeland to seek better incomes and career opportunities elsewhere.

A 2022 Social Weather Stations survey found that 'nearly two out of 10 adult Filipinos aspire to live abroad'. Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar were among the top choices to move to.

However, OFWs - many working as housekeepers or nannies - face notoriously inhumane working conditions, abuse and discrimination in the region.

The Philippine government has intermittently issued deployment bans to the Middle East following the deaths of several Filipino maids at the hands of their employers.