MANILA - An Australian national and his alleged cohorts behind the controversial "Destruction of Daisy" sex and physical abuse videos, with Filipino girls as victims, will be indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for 69 criminal cases, including qualified trafficking in persons and rape.

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In a 151-page resolution, the DOJ, through Asst. State Prosecutor Jinky Dedumo, found probable cause to charge Peter Gerard Scully for 8 counts of qualified trafficking in persons; 9 counts of child abuse; 5 counts of indecent shows, obscene exhibitions and publications; 5 counts of syndicated child pornography; 4 counts of child pornography; 25 counts of photo and video voyeurism; 6 counts of rape by sexual assault (instrument or object rape); and 2 counts of rape by sexual intercourse (organ rape).

The charge against Scully for murder involving the death of one of the child victims, known as "Barbie" and "Cindy," was dismissed as it is absorbed in the charge for qualified trafficking in persons.

The DOJ explained that "her death [constituted] an additional qualifying circumstance for qualified trafficking in persons... being a resultant effect of the acts of trafficking perpetrated against said victim."

Scully's former live-in partner, Liezyl Margallo, will be indicted for 8 counts of qualified trafficking; 9 counts of child abuse; 5 counts of indecent shows, obscene exhibitions and publications; 5 counts of syndicated child pornography; 25 counts of photo and video voyeurism; and 5 counts of rape by sexual assault (instrument or object rape).

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Their co-respondents namely, Christian Rouche, Alexander Lao, Haniel Caetano de Oliveira, Marshall Ruskin and Ma. Dorothea Chia will also be indicted for these offenses, excluding child pornography and rape.

"After a careful perusal and scrutiny of the records of the instant case, and based on the evidence thus submitted, respondents are criminally liable for committing a series of punishable acts relating to and/or involving 'Online Sexual Exploitation of Children,'" the resolution read.

The National Bureau of Investigation-Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-AHTRAD) filed a 16-page complaint in March 2015 against respondents for the alleged sexual and physical abuse, including the torture, of Filipino girls, with ages ranging from 1-13 years old, in Cagayan de Oro City from April 2011 up to September 2014. The abuses were recorded with the use of a digital camera and uploaded on a porn website.

"[T]here exists probable cause to charge respondents Scully and Margallo, in conspiracy with each other and confederating with other cohorts... Scully and Margallo groomed the minor children by making them watch sex videos and photographs through the house computers to prepare them for sexual activity... thereby subjecting the said minor children to conditions prejudicial to their growth and development.

"Worse, said minor victims were not only sexually abused but were also maltreated or physically abused and tortured. A clear form of child abuse and exploitation!" the resolution read.

The investigating prosecutor's recommendations were upheld by Senior Asst. State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo, chairperson of the DOJ Task Force on Anti-Trafficking in Persons; Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, chairperson of the DOJ Task Force on Cybercrime; and Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.

TRACING THE CRIMES

The NBI-AHTRAD and DOJ Office of the Cybercrime (DOJ-OCC) began its investigation into the "Destruction of Daisy" sex and physical abuse videos after foreign law enforcement counterparts informed the Philippine government of a so-called "Daisy Video Case" during an INTERPOL Human Trafficking Conference in Bermuda in October 2014.

READ: Australian faces murder, child rape charges

At the time, the National Police of the Netherlands already investigated the "Daisy Video Case" and possessed a case file containing photographs of the victims, the male and female suspects, and the interior of the houses where the abuses took place.

Also during that time, Scully was facing a pending case before the Cagayan de Oro Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 37 for the sexual and physical abuse of two Filipina girls, aged 9-year old and 12-year old, dubbed as the "Apovel Case" for reportedly having been committed at Apovel Subdivision in Barangay Buluan.

The two victims were able to escape and narrate their ordeal to their parents. The RTC issued 6 warrants of arrents against Scully in connection with the "Apovel Case," for 5 counts of rape and one count of qualified trafficking-in-persons.

Scully's alleged cohort, Carme Ann Alvarez, was nabbed and detained at the Cagayan de Oro City Jail. With her cooperation, two of Scully's hard drives were examined by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which came in after it was informed that one of their nationals was the subject of the investigation. Alvarez also helped the authorities trace the houses that Scully and Margallo rented.

NBI-AHTRAD agents were able to serve subpoenas on Margallo upon her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on February 19, 2015, where she was scheduled to depart for Cagayan de Oro. Margallo offered to help the NBI in locating Scully.

The next day, February 20, 2015, NBI agents arrested Scully inside a house in Barangay Violeta, Malaybalay, Bukidnon on the strength of the 6 outstanding arrest warrants issued by the Cagayan de Oro RTC.

On February 22, 2015, Margallo, accompanied by counsel Atty Enrique Malicay, Jr., appeared at the NBI Regional Office and volunteered information on the crimes allegedly committed by Scully.

Margallo claimed that Scully sexually and physically abused the girls, and Scully and Rouche "both sexually abused "Barbie." Margallo also told the NBI that "Barbie" was later killed and buried in the kitchen of a house in Surigao she had rented with Scully and Margallo.

Margallo accompanied the NBI to the said house where a human skull and bones were later exhumed.

In the complaint it filed with the DOJ, the NBI described one of the acts in the videos as "unprecedented in the history of child abuse investigations."

In its resolution, the DOJ, borrowing the words of Nelson Mandela, stressed that "[t]here can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."