Child abuse

What constitutes the crime of child abuse under Section 10 (a) of Republic Act No. 7610? This is main issue answered in this case of Lupita.

Lupita was a Grade 1 public school teacher in the elementary school of their town. One of her pupils was seven-year-old Raymond. One school day, Raymond was hurriedly entering his classroom when he accidentally bumped the knee of Lupita who was then asleep on a bamboo sofa. Roused from sleep, Lupita asked Raymond to apologize to her. Raymond however did not obey and just went to his seat. So Lupita followed Raymond and pinched him on his thigh. Then, she held him up by his armpits and pushed him to the floor. As Raymond fell, his body hit a desk causing him to lose consciousness. But Lupita still picked Raymond up by his ears and repeatedly slammed him down on the floor.

After the incident, Lupita proceeded to teach her class. During lunch break, Raymond, accompanied by two of his classmates, Lila and Lyn, went home crying and told his mother about the incident. So his mother and his Aunt Gloria reported the incident to their Barangay Captain, who advised them to have Raymond examined by a doctor. Raymond was thus brought to the provincial hospital where he was examined by Dr. Tessie. Thereafter they likewise reported the incident to the Police Station.

The medical certificate issued by Dr. Tessie shows that Raymond suffered petechiae or discoloration of the skin and tenderness of both external ears; pains in the third and fourth lumbar regions; contusions at left inner thigh; and tenderness and pains at the area of femoral head while walking.

So Lupita was criminally charged with violation of child abuse law (Section 10 (a) of R.A. 7610 for “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously maltreating her pupil Raymond, a seven-year-old child, by pinching him on different parts of his body, and thereafter slumping him to the ground, thereby causing Raymond to lose his consciousness and to suffer injuries on different parts of his body.

After trial, during which Raymond, his two classmates Lila and Lyn and Dr. Tessie testified, the RTC convicted Lupita of violation of Section 10 (a), Article VI of R.A. 7610, and sentenced her to an indeterminate prison term ranging from four years, months and one day as minimum, to six years and one day, as maximum, and to pay the costs.

Lupita appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA) which however affirmed the RTC decision and even increased her sentence from four years, two months and one day, as minimum, to 10 years and one day, as maximum.

But Lupita still appealed to the Supreme Court insisting that she did not deliberately inflict the physical injuries suffered by Raymond in a manner that would debase, demean or degrade his dignity. She contended that her maltreatment was an act of discipline which she, as a schoolteacher, could reasonably do towards the development of the child under the doctrine of in loco parentis or substitute parental authority Was Lupita correct?

No. Although as a schoolteacher, she could duly discipline Raymond as her pupil, her infliction of the physical injuries on him was unnecessary, violent and excessive. The boy even fainted from the violence suffered at her hands. She could not justifiably claim that she acted only for the sake of disciplining him. Her physical maltreatment of him was precisely prohibited by no less than the Family Code, which has expressly banned the infliction of corporal punishment by a school administrator, teacher or individual engaged in child care exercising special parental authority (i.e., in loco parentis).

Proof of the severe results of Lupita’s physical maltreatment of Raymond was provided by Dr. Tessie who examined Raymond three hours from the time the boy had sustained his injuries as shown by the medical certificate.

Child abuse under R.A. 7610 refers to the maltreatment of the child whether habitual or not including any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being. In this case Lupita went overboard in disciplining Raymond when she pinched him hard on the left thigh and when she held him in the armpits and threw him on the floor. And as the boy fell down his body hit the desk causing him to lose consciousness.  And instead of feeling a sense of remorse, Lupita further held the boy up by his ears and pushed him down on the floor.” Even Lila, Raymond’s classmate revealed on cross examination that she had also experienced Lupita’s cruelty. So Lupita is really guilty of child abuse and should suffer imprisonment of four years, nine months and 11 days as minimum, to seven years, four months and one day as the maximum, She should also pay Raymond P20,000 as moral damages, P20,000 as exemplary damages, and P20,000 as temperate damages, plus interest at the rate of 6% per annum on each item of the civil liability reckoned from the finality of this decision until full payment and the costs of suit (Rosaldes vs. People G.R. 173988, October 8, 2014).

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]