Man tagged in GRO's gang-rape charged

MANILA, Philippines – One of five men who allegedly gang-raped a guest relations officer recently in Quezon City was charged in court yesterday.

A case of forcible abduction with rape was filed against Jansen Rey Ruckenbrod, a Filipino-American residing in East Fairview, before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 85.

Assistant City Prosecutor Hector Buenaluz Jr. earlier found probable cause to indict Ruckenbrod. Buenaluz conducted a preliminary investigation on the complaint after the suspect filed a waiver for his detention and sought a preliminary investigation for him to file his counter-affidavit.

Policemen arrested the suspect after the victim claimed Ruckenbrod was one of five men who abducted her while she was waiting for a ride home along Quezon Avenue early morning on Sept. 22.

The victim claimed one of the suspects got out of a silver Mitsubishi Fuzion (ZRT-682) and poked his gun at other people in the vicinity. The victim stood in fear while her sister was able to run away. The suspects then allegedly dragged her into the vehicle and blindfolded her. As the vehicle traveled, the suspects allegedly started abusing her until she was brought to a house where she was allegedly gang-raped.

The victim’s sister managed to take note of the vehicle’s plate number and immediately reported the incident to the police. The car used in the abduction was allegedly owned and driven by Ruckenbrod.

In his counter-affidavit, Ruckenbrod denied the allegations against him, saying he had consensual sex with the woman. He claimed the woman agreed to have sex with him for a fee.

But Buenaluz said in his resolution that “the defenses raised by the respondent can be more properly raised before the trial court where his allegations and defenses may be fully and adequately ventilated, considering the defense of consensual sex admits to essentially all the elements of the offense save the exculpatory circumstance of the presence of consent.”