People v. De Guzman
G.R. No. 224212
November 27, 2019
FACTS:
The RTC
and CA convicted accused for the crime of two counts of Qualified Rape. That on
May 9, 2011, in Las Pinas, the accused with lewd designs had carnal knowledge
of AAA, a 15 year old minor without her consent by means of force threat and
intimidation and by taking advantage of his moral ascendancy over her, he being
her step-parent, thereby subjecting her to sexual abuse; the act complained of
is prejudicial to the physical, psychological and moral development of the said
minor and which degrades or demeans her intrinsic worth and dignity as a human
being.
ISSUE:
Whether
or not the CA erred in affirming the RTC
HELD:
Yes.
The element of qualified rape are 1.)
sexual congress 2.) with a woman 3. Done by force and without consent 4.) the
victim is under 18 years of age at the time of the rape and 5.0 the offender is
either a parent (whether legitimate, illegitimate or adopted), [ascendant,
stepparent, guardian, relative by consanguinity or affinity within the 3rd
civil degree or the common-law spouse of the parent] of the victim.”
In this
case, AAA’s minority was properly alleged and indisputably proven during trial.
She was below 18 years old at the time the crimes were committed against her.
Moreover, it was proven by evidence that De Guzman forced AAA into engaging in
sexual congress by using threats and intimidation and without her consent, in
addition to his moral ascendancy over her. Corollarily, it was alleged in the
Informations that De Guzman was AAA’s stepfather. However this fact was not
sufficiently proved. Wherefore, Romeo De Guzman guilty of Simple Statutory
Rape.
