Saturday, February 23, 2008
Argao computer teacher charged with child abuse, harassment
DAYS after the incident hit the media, two separate criminal charges were filed yesterday against a computer teacher of a government-run college in Argao, Cebu.
Police Sr. Insp. Teodulfo Manatad III, in the criminal complaint sent to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor, identified the respondent as Vicente Von Duran, of legal age, married, and a resident of Canduran, Tulic, Argao.
The charges against him include sexual harassment in relation to Republic Act 7610, more commonly referred to as the Child Abuse Law, and acts of lasciviousness, also in relation to RA 7610.
Per office procedure, the complaint will be assigned to a prosecutor for preliminary investigation. After the raffling, the respondent will be issued a subpoena to submit his counter-affidavit. He has 10 days from receipt to comply.
Sixteen-year-old Inna, real name withheld, accused the respondent of hugging and kissing her inside his classroom at the Cebu State College of Science and Technology–Agro-Industrial and Forestry College (CSCST-AIFTC) campus last Feb. 18.
In an affidavit executed before Manatad, Inna said the teacher had her see him at around 7:50 p.m. of that day for “some clarification” regarding her grades.
“I sat on the chair while our conversation took place when suddenly Mr. Duran stood up and tightly hugged me, kissed my forehead, then my cheek and my lips,” she said.
“He got hold of my hands and laced them forcibly around his waist and I begged him in vernacular ‘Sir, buhi-i ko’ (let me go),” she added.
She said she tried to leave the room but the teacher ran after her to tell her not to narrate what had happened.
“When I was already outside his office, I told the incident to a friend,” she said.
Two other students executed a joint-affidavit narrating how Inna had been crying immediately after the incident.
In the second charge, 17-year-old Anna accused the teacher of courting her in exchange for a cellular phone.
The incident, she said, also happened sometime earlier in this month.
“He asked me in vernacular ‘kinsa diay imong Valentino (who is your Valentine) and got his cellphone from his pocket. Then he told me in Visayan ‘kung magkauyab ta, hatagan tika og cellphone (If you agree to be my girlfriend, I’ll give you a cellphone,” she quoted the teacher as saying. KNR |
