The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the conviction and life imprisonment of Australian national Martin Cook for trafficking four minors, ruling that a child’s supposed consent is never given freely and does not absolve offenders of criminal liability.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho Jr., the SC Second Division found Cook guilty of qualified trafficking in persons for harboring and receiving four boys aged 11 to 13 in his residence for prostitution and sexual exploitation.

The Court upheld the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P2 million, and ordered Cook to pay P600,000 in damages to each of the four victims.

The case originated from a request by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into Cook’s alleged trafficking activities.

Following surveillance operations near Cook’s residence, NBI agents interviewed the four minors, who said they were invited by friends to go to Cook’s house in exchange for food and money for sexual services.

Two of the victims testified that they first came into contact with Cook through Facebook.

Cook, then 76 years old, was initially convicted by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of qualified trafficking under Republic Act No. 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by Republic Act No. 10364. The RTC found that Cook deliberately obtained and maintained the minors in his house for sexual exploitation.

However, the RTC imposed the penalty of reclusion temporal, or 12 years and one day to 20 years of imprisonment without parole, ruling that Cook’s advanced age was a privileged mitigating circumstance that warranted a reduction of the penalty under the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

On appeal, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed Cook’s conviction but increased the penalty to life imprisonment.

The CA ruled that old age is only an ordinary mitigating circumstance under the RPC, which merely lowers the penalty to its minimum period. It further held that life imprisonment is an indivisible penalty that cannot be reduced.

The Supreme Court sustained the CA’s ruling and clarified that the rules on penalties and mitigating circumstances under the RPC do not apply to special penal laws such as RA 9208, unless expressly adopted.

Since the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act does not incorporate the RPC’s penalty framework, any mitigating circumstance in favor of Cook, including his age, must be disregarded.

The SC said all elements of qualified trafficking were present in the case. It stressed that trafficking occurs when persons are recruited, harbored, or received for exploitative purposes such as prostitution or sexual exploitation, regardless of the victim’s consent.

When the victims are minors, the offense constitutes qualified trafficking and is punishable by life imprisonment.

The Court cited the victims’ detailed testimonies describing how Cook searched for minors on Facebook and lured them with offers of food and money in exchange for sexual favors.

Rejecting Cook’s defense that the children went to his house voluntarily, the SC emphasized that in child trafficking cases, the means used to commit the crime are immaterial.

“The prosecution need not prove force, coercion, or deception,” the Court said, noting that a minor cannot legally consent to being trafficked.