THE Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the child trafficking complaint against American rape suspect Perry McNeely.
City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon amended the criminal charges against McNeely from violation of Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to violation of Section 5 of RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
Sellon said McNeely, who stepped out of jail last month on a P200,000-bail, merely “bought the services” of the 14-year-old minor victim who “went back to the hotel alone on her own volition.”
“In other words, the person who hires or maintains a trafficked person to engage in prostitution is totally different story from a person who merely buys or engages the services of such trafficked person,” Sellon said in his four-page resolution.
Last month, McNeely was sued for violation of provisions of RA 7610 for bringing in a 14-year-old girl inside a hotel room last Dec. 2.
McNeely’s lawyer, Oscar Tan, earlier filed a motion seeking reduction of the bail.
For violation of Section 5 of RA 7610, the court recommended a bail of P24,000. A P200,000-bail was also recommended by the court for violation of Section 6 of RA 7610 (Attempt To Commit Child Prostitution).
Tan asked Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Veloso to reduce the P200,000 bail on McNeely’s violation of Section 6.
Tan said McNeely could not afford to pay the bail since he is already a retiree and has a family to support. Tan asked the court that the bail be reduced to P24,000.
But Judge Veloso denied McNeely’s motion for reduction of bail.
In his resolution, Sellon said the girl appeared to have been trafficked by Marian Zanoria, who is reportedly the girlfriend of McNeely, and virtually “fed” her to him last Dec. 1.
After the incident, McNeely reportedly asked the girl to come back to his hotel room. He gave her P1,000 after having sex with her.
But granting that the victim was trafficked, Sellon said it was Zanoria who should be held liable, not McNeely, since it was Zanoria who “hired” the girl to engage in prostitution.
“McNeely was merely a customer who used or bought the services of the minor as a prostitute and who apparently wanted more by telling her (victim) to come back the following day,” said Sellon.
But since the girl is a minor, Sellon said McNeely is still liable for violating the law against child abuse.
Sellon also said the charge for violation Section 6 of RA 7610 (Attempt To Commit Child Prostitution) will not prosper since the law is applicable only if there is “a proof of actual prostitution or sexual abuse” between McNeely and the girl. (GMD)