An elderly Lebanese man has been arrested in Tagbilaran City in Bohol in the Philippines for allegedly molesting children.
The suspect was identified as Guiragos Tarakjian, 86, from Lebanon, according to the Bohol director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Rennan Augustus Oliva.
The suspect’s Filipino driver, Handel Sarabosing, was also arrested on Wednesday, Philippine Lifestyle News reported.
The two denied the allegations. Tarakjian said he only gave gifts to children before sending them home. Sarabosing said he was just asked to transport the children.
Oliva said the arrest was made after parents of three children filed a complaint against the suspects. The parents said Sarabosing told them that the Lebanese man was looking for children to help him at his house.
“The parents were misled to think the intention of the foreigner was genuine, all the while there was a hidden agenda,” Oliva said.
The NBI obtained security footage that showed Sarabosing coming out of Tarakjian’s rented room at a city resort. When he returned, he was in the company of the three children. After the three children got home, they told their parents that they had been molested by Tarakjian.
Oliva alleged that one of the children was molested.
The two suspects face charges for violating the Expanded Anti-Trafficking In Persons Act of 2012 and the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.