Mall worker ‘gropes’ 13year-old girl on jeepney

M

ETRO

ILOILO City – A string of charges may be lodged against a 26-year-old man for allegedly groping a 13-year-old girl while on a public utility jeepney.

Warren Alinsubao was arrested and detained in the lockup facility of the police station in La Paz district.

Police identified Alinsubao as a mall merchandiser from Barangay Cagay, Alimodian, Iloilo.

He faces charges for violation of t he Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and acts of lasciviousness, said Senior Inspector Jose Val Ladublan, La Paz police chief.

Prior to his arrest, bystanders ganged up on him after mistaking him for a thief trying to escape.

The girl t old her aunt Alinsubao fondled her breast while they were disembarking from the jeepney at around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on Luna Street, Barangay San Nicolas, La Paz.

“We were getting off the jeepney when I heard my niece scream,” the aunt, who refused to be identified, said in Hiligaynon.

She thought Alinsubao was a thief, the aunt said.

“I grabbed his arm. My fingernails even sank in his skin. But he slipped off my grip, so I shouted, ‘He’s a thief, he’s a thief!’ Bystanders then ran after him and caught him near WIT (Western Institute of Technology),” she said.

Al i nsubao s a i d what happened was an accident.

“It was just so sudden. I did not intend to grab her breast,” he said in Hiligaynon./

PN

IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN Warren Alinsubao (seated, right) covers his face as a police officer escorts him to the police station in La Paz, Iloilo City via a tricycle on Wednesday, June 13. He was accused of groping of a teenaged girl while on a public utility jeepney.

IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN Drug suspects Ronilo Bajon (left) and Shella Mayang crouch on the floor as police operatives inventory the items seized from them after an operation in Barangay Don Esteban, Lapuz, Iloilo City.