Court of Appeals upholds conviction of rape suspect

CEBU, Philippines - The Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of a man accused of raping his 14-year-old cousin, who is also said to be mentally challenged.

Executive Justice Pampio Abarintos, in a 14-page decision, denied the petition for appeal filed by the accused, name withheld by The Freeman for being a relative of the victim.

 â€œWe find the testimony of the victim adequately proved that appellant had indeed raped her. The victim’s assertion of forced coitus was substantially corroborated by the medical findings. Thus, this court is convinced that the prosecution was able to prove the guilt of accused-appellant beyond reasonable doubt and that the trial court was correct in finding him guilty of rape,” the appellate court decision reads.

The accused was earlier found guilty of rape and was sentenced in 2011 by Regional Trial Court Judge Raphael Yrastorza to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua or 20 to 40 years imprisonment.

The accused appealed the ruling claiming that the court erred in finding him guilty because of the prosecution’s alleged failure to prove his guilty beyond reasonable doubt.  He claimed that the victim, who is his relative, failed to identify him as the alleged rapist. In fact, the victim could not anymore recall the exact date when the alleged rape happened.

 â€œIn rape cases, the victim’s credibility is crucial to the determination of the accused’s culpability as the crime generally involves two persons only and usually perpetrated in seclusion. While it may be difficult to determine the credibility of one who is a mental retardate, it can still be attained by deducing from the manner she testifies in court as to the surrounding facts of the crime committed,” the CA ruled.

Despite the condition of the victim, she was able to “clearly and specifically” identify the accused-appellant as the assailant contrary to the latter’s claimed.

“Appellant’s argument is more apparent than real. It must be emphasized that no member of a rape victim’s family would dare encourage the victim to publicly expose the dishonor to the family unless the crime was in fact committed, especially in this case where the victim and the offender are relatives,” the decision added.

In July 2005, the victim said accused-appellant sexually abused her thrice. After that incident, she said she did not tell her mother because she was scared.

The sexual abuse was revealed only on September 25, 2005 because the victim got pregnant.  (FREEMAN)