CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - Australian pedophile Peter Scully was sentenced to life imprisonment Wednesday after he was found guilty of 1 count of qualified trafficking and 5 counts of rape, 3 years after he was arrested for sexually abusing at least 8 girls, including an 18-month-old infant.

Scully's Filipina live-in partner Carme Ann Alvarez was also convicted for the abuse of 2 minors, a decision released by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 37 here showed.

Scully, the man behind the "Destruction of Daisy," a series of sex videos showing young girls being sexually and physically abused, was arrested in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon in February 2015.

He was charged with 75 cases of sexual assault and trafficking of Filipino minors.

Scully fled from Australia to the Philippines to escape fraud charges in 2011.

The NBI said he set up his cybersex operations in the impoverished southern Philippines, using offers of food and money to lure children into having sex with him and then selling the footage online.

In 2015, one of Scully's victims, a 13-year old girl, told officials she was hired as a domestic worker in Scully's rented apartment in Malaybalay City but was later on forced to perform sexual acts with other girls.

"They told me they had to take pictures of me naked because there was an American who really wanted to see me naked... and because the American will pay a large amount," the girl said.

Scully also strangled one of the girls to death, with her skeleton later discovered buried under a house he had rented, 2015 investigations showed.

The Australian is still facing 69 other charges which includes 8 counts of qualified trafficking in persons committed by a syndicate, 5 counts of syndicated child pornography, 9 counts of child abuse, 5 counts of indecent shows, obscene exhibitions and publications, 4 counts of child pornography, 25 counts of photo and video voyeurism and 13 counts of rape.