MANILA, Philippines - Actor Baron Geisler was sentenced to serve a maximum of two years in prison by a Makati judge yesterday for groping a daughter of fellow actors William Martinez and Yayo Aguila in a bar five years ago.
Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) Branch 61 Judge Barbara Aleli Briones also ordered Geisler, whom she found guilty of having committed acts of lasciviousness, to pay Patrizha Maree Martinez the sum of P30,000 in damages.
Geisler’s lawyer, Carlo Alentajan, said they will appeal the court’s verdict.
In his arraignment before the Makati City MTC Branch 64 on Feb. 3, 2009, Geisler pleaded not guilty to the charge of acts of lasciviousness filed by the then 21-year-old Martinez.
During the arraignment of his case at the Makati City MTC Branch 64, Judge Ronald Romero asked the parties if the case could still be settled through mediation.
However, Martinez manifested in open court that she is not willing to settle the case through mediation.
The case against Geisler was filed before the Department of Justice by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group through Superintendent Sotera Macatangay.
Attached to the complaint filed with the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor was Martinez’s sworn statement.
The incident supposedly occurred on April 25, 2008 at the Fiama Bar on Jupiter street in Makati City while Martinez was partying with friends.
According to her statement, she texted several friends to come and join them at the bar. One of those she texted was Geisler, who later appeared at the bar.
She said Geisler told her when he arrived at the bar that he had already drunk a bottle of wine and some beer.
After a while, Martinez said Geisler left her group when his friends arrived. After an hour, she saw Geisler and asked him if he was still okay. He then asked her if she could count his change since he was already very drunk.
Martinez said it was then that Geisler suddenly embraced her, asked her if she had a boyfriend and told her to have sex with him.
She added that Geisler apologized for his statement, but then touched her breasts. She said she could not react at first for fear she might create a scene and hurt her parents’ reputation.