Pinoy sales exec admits possessing photos and videos of child porn

Gelizon's computer had  32 photos and 138 video clips of child pornography

by Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipino sales executive was taken into custody on orders of the District Court on Apr 23, after he pleaded guilty to child pornography. He admitted downloading and storing 170 video clips and photographs showing children in erotic poses and doing sexual acts two years ago.

Lordjel Gelizon, 33, will be sentenced on May 7. Judge Isaac Tam ordered him detained pending a psychological report, and a psychiatric assessment of the case’s impact on him.

Gelizon, single and a sales executive for an electronics company, was arrested in a police raid on a flat in Tsimshatsui at 6:30am on Apr 19, 2016, during an anti-child pornography operation. He had been living with his parents and a younger sister in the flat.                     

The accused will be sentenced at the
District Court in Wanchai on May 7.

Prosecution said the officers recovered 32 photos and 138 video clips that Gelizon had downloaded from child pornography websites. The illicit content was stored in 22 files recovered from a notebook PC that the defendant owned and used exclusively.

The charge sheet said the images showed children aged from one and a half years to 15 years in erotic poses and sexual acts, including “penetrative activity” with adults who were not using condoms.

The prosecution submitted to the court a folder of photos and still shots from the videos.

Gelizon remained silent on the day of his arrest, the prosecution said. But in his first video-recorded interview by police, he admitted downloading and storing the material in his PC. He said it was for his own viewing and he did not disseminate them.

In a second video-recorded interview, the defendant was shown the video clips and photos, but he reportedly refused to view them, saying he had since changed his lifestyle.

His lawyer passionately argued for a lenient sentence, but Judge Tam he will wait for the two reports on May 7 before handing his sentence.

The defense said the psychiatric report was necessary as Gelizon had been under “tremendous stress” due to his fear of the unknown while anticipating his “day under the guillotine”.

In mitigation, his lawyer said Gelizon had a clear record. He was born in Hong Kong where he attended elementary school, but left for the Philippines for his high school and college education.

Although he was unable to finish his college course, Gelizon managed to set up a hollow block production business where he employed 12 relatives. But he sold the business after a decline in production.

He returned to Hong Kong and worked for various companies, where he rose from a customer service officer in a logistics solutions firm to sales executive in an electronic services company, the defense counsel said.

He resigned from his job after his arrest and has been unemployed since.