She is now seeking help to reopen a case of acts of lasciviousness slapped against the suspect. The case was dismissed by a local court last year after the accused presented an allegedly "manufactured" affidavit of desistance, she said.
The mother said she is also mustering enough courage and evidence to charge the heinous crime of rape against her cousin’s husband, Santiago Tipuno.
"I wish you could help us. We want to reopen the first case and file rape charges against him who violated my daughter. We are scared of Sonny. He might do it again to her," she said in Tagalog.
She said they need to pursue the case but have no means to secure the services of a good lawyer. She revealed that her daughter has been traumatized by the repeated abuses and has shown fear of even going out of the house knowing that her abuser is just around. The suspect lives just across the victim’s residence.
The victim’s mother claimed that the case was dismissed due to alleged "mishandling" of the case by, among others, their own lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and the case investigators, whose identities she withheld.
"Sonny also falsified the signatures in the affidavit of desistance he prepared to make it appear that we have settled the case amicably," the victim’s mother alleged. A casual comparison of the genuine and alleged signatures of the victim’s sister-guardian showed some disparity but the authenticity of the signatures is yet to be validated by handwriting experts.
The victim, then 14, assisted by her sister, now 27, also narrated she was embraced, mashed in the breast and the suspect’s finger and, later, foot inserted in her vagina in the afternoon of Dec. 1, 2000.
PO2 Remedios Terte of the local Women’s and Children’s Protection Unit (WCPU) said the same incidents happened several times in the past. The victim added that another uncle, also molested her several times in 1997.
While Assistant City Prosecutor Honesto Noche found probable cause to hold Sonny for acts of lasciviousness, the same case against the other uncle was dismissed "for lack of factual basis." While the case was being heard, the suspect posted bail of P24,000 for his temporary liberty. – Jerry Botial