Scavenger admits molesting girl , 4

MANILA, Philippines - A 28-year-old scavenger admitted yesterday to kidnapping a four-year-old girl in Parañaque City on March 2 and molesting her each time he was intoxicated, until police rescued her last Tuesday.

Dexterio Dungan told The STAR he took the girl because she was “smart” and he wanted someone he “can take care of at home.” He said he molested her on March 4, 6 and 7 “because I was drunk.”

He said he talked the girl into coming with him by telling her he can play and pretend to be her father. Dungan, presented to the media by Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe yesterday, faces rape and kidnapping charges.

Dungan was arrested on March 9, a day after his victim was rescued from his house on Zendron Alley Benitez street in Barangay San Martin De Pores, Quezon City.

Dungan was formally charged Thursday before the Parañaque City prosecutor’s office for kidnapping and serious illegal detention. A source said rape charges will be filed against the scavenger in Quezon City “because that’s where the crime was allegedly carried out.”

The source said the victim was playing at a local video arcade run by a neighbor along Dimasalang street in Barangay Baclaran on March 2 when Dungan allegedly enticed her to go with him by giving her P1 coins and chocolates. When the child agreed, Dungan placed her inside his kariton (cart) and fled.

A witness who saw Dungan and his common-law wife Josephine Abrenilla told the victim’s mother where the girl could be found. Two days later, Abrenilla was arrested in a house in Malibay, Pasay City but Dungan and the victim were nowhere to be found.

The victim’s mother distributed fliers bearing her daughter’s picture, offering P20,000 to anyone who can provide information on the girl’s whereabouts. The source said the mother received a tip that the girl’s kidnapper may be found in Quezon City.

Parañaque and Quezon City policemen recovered the girl on March 8. The source said the girl looked “normal and clean” and the parents did not suspect she had been abused.

The source said that night, the girl complained of pain, and the mother found that her daughter’s genitals were swollen. Though there were few signs of trauma, the source said “if you ask her how many times she’s been abused, the girl will raise four fingers.”

The mother asked for police assistance, which led to Dungan’s arrest on March 9. Abrenilla was charged with kidnapping as early as March 4.