Man charged for ‘raping’ niece
THE Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor indicted a man for allegedly sexually assaulting his niece twice inside their house.
Prosecutor Aurora Peñaflor found evidence to charge the man with rape, which is a violation of Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, before the Regional Trial Court.
“After circumspect evaluation of the evidence on record, and with the presence of all elements of this crime, the undersigned finds probable cause to hold respondent for trial,” said Peñaflor in her resolution.
Rape is a non-bailable offense. Sun. Star Cebu is withholding the suspect’s name to protect the victim’s privacy, pursuant to the confidentiality provision of the law on rape.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by 10-year-old Alice (real name withheld), who accused her uncle of raping her inside their house in Cebu City last March 14, 2016.
The girl, a sixth-grader, said she was alone at home when the incident happened because her parents were attending to her sibling in the hospital.
Alice said her uncle went inside their house at around 2 a.m. and lied down beside her and sexually abused her.
The incident happened again on May 8 at around 10 p.m. She said she was outside of her grandmother’s house when the suspect called her and brought her inside the room.
The girl said she informed her elder sister about the incident only on May 28.
Replying to the charges, the accused denied the charges, which the prosecutor said are evidentiary in nature that may be threshed out in a fullblown trial.
In the resolution, Prosecutor Peñaflor gave weight to the complainant’s allegations.
The prosecutor found probable cause to hold the respondent for trial, citing circumspect evidence on record.
“While only a full blown trial can determine the culpability or innocence of the respondent, there is more than sufficient reasons and evidence at this stage that respondent had committed the crime charged,” the prosecutor said.