40 years for rape

A Parañaque City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge found a man guilty of raping a 29-year-old retardate twice in 1998 and sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment.

Branch 258 Judge Raul de Leon also ordered Charlie Butiong to pay the victim a total of P125,000 in civil indemnity and moral and exemplary damages.

Court records showed that Butiong raped the victim inside his house on the night of Oct. 7, 1998.

National Mental Health (NMH) psychologists who examined the rape victim told the court that she has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old.

The victim identified Butiong as her attacker in court.

She also narrated that Butiong lured her into his house by offering her something in exchange if she followed.

Enticed, she followed him. Butiong then took off her clothes and raped her on the sofa.

The victim said she got angry at Butiong and told her sister about the incident, who promptly reported it to the police.

Butiong did not take the witness stand to refute the allegation.

But his lawyers presented a psychologist who said the wrong procedures were used by the NMH psychologists to determine the mental age of Valenzuela.

In his seven-page decision, de Leon noted that Butiong did not offer a reason why the victim would accuse him of rape.

Moreover, the testimony of the witness did not invalidate the tests conducted to show the victim’s mental disability.

In fact, the court observed her disability when she took the witness stand.

De Leon gave credence to the victim’s positive identification of the accused and her straightforward and consistent testimony.

The judge noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that "a mental retardate who has the ability to make her perception known to others is a competent witness."