(UPDATED) -- A 12-year-old girl and her sibling were taken care of their grandparents in a mountain village in Badian, after they were abandoned by their mother and their father was caught in Mandaue City for allegedly raping a minor.
Phoebe (real name withheld) thought she was safe, but she experienced nightmare in the hands of her 54-year-old grandfather on Tuesday, March 13. She was allegedly raped twice.
The girl's 70-year-old grandmother did not believe her and scolded her.
Phoebe, a sixth grader, then divulged the incident to her teacher last Wednesday morning and the latter saved her from further abuse after reporting the crime to the police.
Senior Inspector Bonifacio Pareja, the town police chief, said they arrested the suspect Damaso (not his real name) in Barangay Poblacion at 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 14.
Damaso, a farmer, denied the allegations, telling the police that his granddaughter just made up the story.
Investigators did not believe him after they were told that Phoebe's older sister had fled Damaso's house after she was molested by the suspect.
Phoebe told the police that she was raped by her grandfather around 6 a.m. last Tuesday inside their home. Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect raped her again.
On Saturday morning, March 10, the suspect harassed Phoebe by groping her breasts.
The farmer will be charged on Friday, March 16, with rape in relation to Republic Act (RA) 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination, before the Office of the Cebu Provincial Police Office.
RA 7610 defines child abuse as maltreatment of a minor, which includes “psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment” and “any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being.” (KAL/SunStar Cebu)