PHILIPPINES
International Business Times
By Jordan Bhatt
August 2, 2017
A priest in the Philippines has been stripped of his post after he was caught driving with a 13-year-old girl to a hotel.
Arnel Fuentes Lagarejos, a parish priest at St John the Baptist Parish in Marikina, to the east of Manila, and president of Cainta Catholic College, is now facing allegations of child abuse.
He paid the girl 500 Philippine Pesos (£7.49) to meet her at a shopping centre and take her away.
The former priest was caught as part of an entrapment sting which had been called for by the girl’s mother.
Concerns were raised when the girl informed social workers about the abuse and the mother called the authorities.
He now faces charges for violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Officials used the girl’s social media to find out that the person selling her to the priest was a 16-year-old.
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