The arrest of an Australian man at Sydney Airport has led to the unravelling of a global child abuse ring and the capture of its alleged leader, dubbed the “demon”.
Queensland father Gary Richmond-Jones was jailed for two years in August for the planned abuse of a 12-year-old girl while on holiday in the Philippines with his wife and children.
In a July investigation into Australia’s contribution to the insidious online child abuse trade, of which the Philippines is the epicentre, the Herald reported that a stranger had contacted Richmond-Jones on X advertising child abuse material and leaving a number.
While in Manila with his family in 2022, the former car salesman from Mackay downloaded the encrypted messaging app Telegram to contact that person.
He said he was interested in “real” underage Filipino girls, “took his pick” from sexual photos of several children and asked “what price” for a range of “services” which equated to various forms of sexual abuse.
After organising a meeting spot, he decided not to go through with the abuse and stopped responding to the stranger. He later told a Sydney court he had an eleventh-hour realisation that “child abuse is never okay”.
But his incriminating conversations, including the child abuse material, remained on his phone and were discovered by Border Force officials upon his return to Australia.
The Australian Federal Police arrested him, sparking a Philippine National Police (PNP) investigation that discovered the alleged puppet master of the international paedophile syndicate, which sold child abuse videos to foreigners for as little as $13.
Authorities say that man was Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia, a Filipino fugitive who’d been hiding in Dubai since 2021.
Thanks to the AFP’s arrest of Richmond-Jones and the intelligence it passed on to the PNP, Mejia was last month extradited to Manila and charged with offences relating to the alleged abuse of 111 children.
The 32-year-old is accused of luring vulnerable children aged between nine and 11 into making sexual videos, which he sold online to at least 19 people from countries including Australia.
When it emerged Mejia was secretly living in the United Arab Emirates, the PNP raised an international Interpol red-notice warrant.
The AFP’s Manila team then worked with its liaison officers in Dubai to help facilitate the extradition process between the Philippines and UAE.
Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia, upon his arrest in the Philippines.Credit: Facebook
Video published online by local news outlets showed Mejia being marched down a hallway at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport by a large group of police officers, his face hidden with a black hoodie and mask.
He was forced to stand in front of journalists during a press conference in which Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos called him a “demon” who preyed on vulnerable children who spent a lot of time online.
Abalos alleged Mejia would “scare” children into complying with his sick demands by photoshopping their faces onto naked bodies and threatening to disseminate the material.
“Some of the victims, he would rape and film the rape and sell the video,” Abalos alleged in a translated version of the press conference.
Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia allegedly led the global child abuse syndicate.Credit: Facebook
“It will be recorded and will be sold until the children become his slaves. This is how bad this man is.”
According to the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre, 28 Filipino children have been removed from harm due to the investigation, and more are expected to be rescued in the future.
AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean.Credit: Sem van der Wal/ANP
Richmond-Jones is one of many Australian men fuelling the demand for online child abuse material in the Philippines, where children’s parents often record the abuse and sell the videos to foreigners with the help of alleged “pimps” like Mejia.
According to the International Justice Mission, Australians are the third most commonly reported nationality linked with online sexual exploitation of young adults and children in the country.
AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean praised the tenacity of Philippine investigators in holding Mejia accountable for “these horrible criminal accusations”.
“The AFP provided evidence and intelligence we obtained from the arrest of an Australian man in January 2023, but we could not identify the people he was communicating with in the Philippines,” he said.
“The PNP’s determination to identify this alleged perpetrator and the child victims highlights the importance of international partnerships in child abuse investigations.”
Richmond-Jones was sentenced in the NSW District Court to two years in jail. He was also fined $2100 for intentionally importing child abuse material into Australia.
Mejia was charged with multiple counts of statutory rape, people trafficking and offences contrary to the Philippines Anti-Online Sexual Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Materials Act.
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