BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Iloilo City Field Unit (CFU) arrested a man charged with violation of Section 5(h) of Republic Act (RA) 9262, or the Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004.
The warrant of arrest was issued by Judge Elijo Sharon Herrera-Bellones of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 in Iloilo City.
According to the police, suspect John Federick Escare created multiple fictitious Facebook accounts and used them to chat with several women – both young and mature.
Escare, 28, allegedly lured his victims by befriending them and later invited them to meet up with him. Once the victim fell into his sweet-talking, Escare brought his victims to a motel and had sex with them.
Police said he would record the act and use it to blackmail the victims by threatening to upload their sex videos if they refused to meet up and have sex with him again.
Escare’s arrest was realized after he agreed to meet up again with his supposed target, which turned out to be a police asset.
Temporarily residing in Barangay Airport, Mandurriao district, he was supposed to meet with his next victim along Iznart Street, Iloilo City at around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 25.
Patrolwoman Kay F. Becida, of the CIDG-Iloilo CFU, told Panay News they have been monitoring the activities of Escare since 2023. Becida said they used a female decoy to catch the elusive accused.
Initially, Becida said she chatted with Escare and agreed to meet with him. But the accused later withdrew after sensing she was a law enforcer. Then, the police agreed to use another female decoy, which the accused agreed to meet up with which led to his arrest.
Becida said Escare victimized several women whom he even impregnated. The victims feared reporting to authorities because Escare reportedly threatened to upload their sex videos online should they come out and report to the police.
“He is a kind of sex maniac who lured his victims online and recorded their sexual activities and used the video to blackmail the victims,” said Becida.
She said three complainants sought police assistance. But she said Escare victimized more women, including minor students. The victims are afraid to come out of the open and report the incident for fear of public humiliation.
The police tried to recover Escare’s mobile phone, which is believed to have contained several sex videos of his victims. But the accused told the police that he lost his phone.
“We tried to access his dummy account on Facebook, but he insisted he forgot the password,” said Becida.
Apart from his case for violation of Violence against Women and their Children Law, Escare is also facing two counts of cases in another court in Iloilo City for violation of RA 9995 (Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009) in relation to Section 6 of RA No. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012).
Escare, who used to work as a promotion merchandiser in an establishment in this city , is currently detained at the Mandurriao Police Station. He will be transferred to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district pending trial of the cases against him.
Meanwhile, Police Captain Elbert M. Santos, city chief of the CIDG-Iloilo CFU, urged other victims of Escare to come out and report directly to their office in Mandurriao to help bolster the cases against the accused./PN
