Case Digest (G.R. No. 240441)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. XXX, G.R. No. 240441, December 04, 2019, the Supreme Court Second Division, Reyes, A., Jr., J., writing for the Court. The prosecution charged XXX in three separate Informations with (1) Violation of Section 5(b), Article III of R.A. No. 7610 (lascivious conduct/child sexual abuse) in Criminal Case No. IR-7893; (2) statutory rape in Criminal Case No. IR-7957; and (3) rape in Criminal Case No. IR-7958. The complaints arose from sexual assaults on two minors, identified in the record as AAA and BBB, daughters of CCC, with whom XXX cohabited as her common-law spouse beginning January 1997.The Informations alleged: for IR-7957, that in August 1998 XXX — alleged therein to be the stepfather of AAA — forcibly had carnal knowledge of then-8-year-old AAA; for IR-7958, that in April 2002 XXX raped AAA again when she was 13; and for IR-7893, that in December 2006 XXX committed lascivious acts upon 14-year-old BBB. XXX pleaded not guilty and went to trial.
At the Regional Trial Court (RTC), AAA testified to two rape incidents (August 1998/April 2002), and BBB recounted the December 2006 molestation; AAA’s birth certificate and medico-legal evidence of hymenal lacerations were offered. XXX denied the charges, asserting temporal impossibility, alibi and that he was not AAA’s stepfather but only the common-law spouse of her mother, and that he no longer lived with BBB at the time she alleged molestation.
On January 26, 2016, the RTC convicted XXX of sexual abuse under R.A. No. 7610 (IR-7893) and of statutory rape and rape (IR-7957, IR-7958), imposing reclusion perpetua and damages. XXX appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA). On January 25, 2018, in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 08224, the CA affirmed with modification: it sustained convictions but downgraded the qualified-rape characterization to simple rape in IR-7957 and IR-7958 because the Information alleged “stepfather” while the trial proved only common-law spousal status; it modified penalties and increased ex...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the prosecution prove beyond reasonable doubt that XXX committed the crimes charged (rape in IR-7957 and IR-7958; lascivious conduct under R.A. No. 7610 in IR-7893)?
- Was the qualifying circumstance of relationship (step-parent) alleged and proved to justify conviction for qualified rape (or other aggravated penalty)?
- Were the penalties and damages imposed by the CA proper and, if not...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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