Man faces raps for “sexually abusing” 14-year-old daughter

CEBU, Philippines - A 58-year-old man is facing charges before the court for allegedly sexually abusing his minor daughter.

 Assistant City Prosecutor Aida Sanchez indicted the accused, a resident of Cebu City, for trial for violation of Section 5 (5) of Republic Act 7610, otherwise known as Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

 Sanchez recommended a P200,000 bail for the temporary liberty of the accused.

 The FREEMAN is withholding the names of the parties due to the nature of the case. 

In her sworn statement, the 14-year-old girl alleged that her father sexually abused her on January 18 at dawn.

 The girl said she did not call for help because she was scared.

 The minor alleged that her father has no job while her mother is a domestic helper.

The minor sought the help of their school’s guidance counselor and later of the police.

 PO2 Benjamin Maglajos and PO1 Restituto Lepatan of Station 7 stated that while they were on duty on January 18, at about 10 p.m., the minor sought their assistance, citing she was afraid to go home because she has been sexually abused by her father several times.

 The policemen went to the residence of the accused and arrested him.

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office indicted a man for acts of lasciviousness.  Prosecutor III Simaco Labata held Gavino Vinas, an audio technician of a television station in Manila, for trial after finding probable cause for the complaint filed against him.

 In an inquest proceeding, Vinas chose not to answer the allegations filed against him and instead manifested to face the charges in court.

 Labata recommended P80,000 bail for Vinas’ temporary liberty.

 A 36-year-old mother alleged that while she and her five-year-old daughter were inside the cabin of M/V Saint Leo on January 19, 2016 at about 4:30 p.m. relaxing and watching TV, a passenger, who happened to be assigned in the same cabin with them, entered.

 She said the man, later identified as Vinas, talked to her about his job that he just came to Cebu for a coverage of the International Eucharistic Congress.

 While talking to Vinas, the mother noticed that the latter was tipsy. She said Vinas offered her a drink, which she accepted to show respect and decency.

The complainant then alleged that she noticed Vinas wanted to hold her daughter and offered to buy her food.

 She sensed something was wrong when Vinas kept touching the back part of her daughter. She said she saw Vinas take off the shirt of her daughter.

 The complainant said they went out of the cabin and asked for assistance from a sea marshal onboard.

 SPO1 Reynald Agaran noted that while he was at the canteen, the complainant approached him and asked for help.

Agaran said the mother informed him that a male passenger maliciously touched her daughter. Agaran then acted on the report and arrested Vinas. — (FREEMAN)