NUEVA VIZCAYA – Police arrested a 55-year-old farmer accused of raping six minors aged six to 10 years old in Barangay Buyasyas, Santa Fe, here.
Capt. Angelo M Dasalla, Sta. Fe chief of police, said the suspect Benito (full name withheld), was nabbed upon the complaint of the mother of one of the victims.
The mother claimed that the suspect threatened to kill her and her entire family when she confronted him for raping her six-year-old daughter.
She told police that her daughter was sexually abused by the suspect, who was armed with a gun, in his shanty early this March.
Police raided the suspect’s makeshift house in Barangay Buyasyas where they seized from him a loaded .22-caliber rifle, a converted 5.56-craliber pistol, and seven bullets for .22-caliber gun.
Investigation conducted by Sta. Fe Police Women and Children’s Desk led by Lt. Jonah Ann Alonzo revealed that the suspect sexually abused five other girls – one eight years old, one 10 years old, one six years old, and two seven years old.
Probers learned that the suspect started molesting the victims in 2019. Some of the girls remembered they were abused on Dec. 8, 2020.
Three of the victims claimed that they were invited by the suspect inside his house where he later tied their hands and feet, and raped them.
The other girls told police that they were also molested by the suspect but could not remember the exact date of the sexual assaults.
“Nangyari lahat sa Barangay Buyasyas, Santa Fe Nueva Vizcaya sa makeshift house n’ya. Bale 2019 nagsimula. According sa victims na minor, tinawag ang mga bata hinipuan, hubaran at molestiya, at binibigyan ng candy coins o fruits like papaya,” Dasalla said.
Col. Ranser Evasco, Nueva Vizcaya police director, said the suspect was charged with grave threat, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, multiple rape in relation to Republic Act 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act). (Liezle Basa Inigo)
