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American acquitted of 23rd rape case, 35 more to go
BY JAIME ESPINA, abs-cbnNEWS.com
BACOLOD CITY – An American arrested three years ago and charged with more than 50 rape cases for allegedly operating a sex den in southern Negros Occidental was acquitted of his 23rd charge but has 35 more cases to go.
In dismissing the case against retired US serviceman Victor Pearson and Filipino co-accused Roy Dojoles, Judge Henry Arles of the Regional Trial Court in Kabankalan City said the prosecution failed to prove that the victim, a minor at the time of the alleged crime on June 10, 2002, had been taken against her will.
Arles sentenced Pearson to 80 years of imprisonment in August 2002 for raping twice a 15-year old girl.
The American remains detained at Negros Occidental Provincial Jail while awaiting resolution of the remaining cases against him.
In his decision dismissing the 23rd charge against Pearson, Arles said that while the first intercourse Pearson had with the victim on October 28, 2000, might have been without the victim's consent, "it is logical to conclude that the succeeding ones that included the case being decided, were no longer against her will, otherwise she would not have kept going back" to the American’s home.
He also noted the victim’s admission that she had sex with Pearson, sometimes twice a week, prior to the alleged June 10 rape.
Arles, meanwhile, acquitted Dojoles, who supposedly took a video footage of Pearson’s sexual activity, because the prosecution failed to present any videotape.
Of the 22 cases against Pearson earlier dismissed by Arles, seven involved an 18-year old complainant who dropped her charges after marrying the American, who earlier converted to Islam.
Fifteen other cases were dismissed after another complainant denied being raped and claimed that she was forced to raise the allegations against Pearson while in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Pearson was arrested during a police raid in his home after one of his victims escaped and sought the help of the Catholic Church of Kabankalan.
During the raid, authorities said they found several videotapes of Pearson engaging in sex, often with multiple partners, many of them minors.
BY JAIME ESPINA, abs-cbnNEWS.com
BACOLOD CITY – An American arrested three years ago and charged with more than 50 rape cases for allegedly operating a sex den in southern Negros Occidental was acquitted of his 23rd charge but has 35 more cases to go.
In dismissing the case against retired US serviceman Victor Pearson and Filipino co-accused Roy Dojoles, Judge Henry Arles of the Regional Trial Court in Kabankalan City said the prosecution failed to prove that the victim, a minor at the time of the alleged crime on June 10, 2002, had been taken against her will.
Arles sentenced Pearson to 80 years of imprisonment in August 2002 for raping twice a 15-year old girl.
The American remains detained at Negros Occidental Provincial Jail while awaiting resolution of the remaining cases against him.
In his decision dismissing the 23rd charge against Pearson, Arles said that while the first intercourse Pearson had with the victim on October 28, 2000, might have been without the victim's consent, "it is logical to conclude that the succeeding ones that included the case being decided, were no longer against her will, otherwise she would not have kept going back" to the American’s home.
He also noted the victim’s admission that she had sex with Pearson, sometimes twice a week, prior to the alleged June 10 rape.
Arles, meanwhile, acquitted Dojoles, who supposedly took a video footage of Pearson’s sexual activity, because the prosecution failed to present any videotape.
Of the 22 cases against Pearson earlier dismissed by Arles, seven involved an 18-year old complainant who dropped her charges after marrying the American, who earlier converted to Islam.
Fifteen other cases were dismissed after another complainant denied being raped and claimed that she was forced to raise the allegations against Pearson while in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Pearson was arrested during a police raid in his home after one of his victims escaped and sought the help of the Catholic Church of Kabankalan.
During the raid, authorities said they found several videotapes of Pearson engaging in sex, often with multiple partners, many of them minors.
Mother f-cker, we treat these pieces of sh!t better then their own govt. would if they did something like this in the US. That piece of sh!t deserves life sentence or execution. Nobody should be above the law, and that includes foreigners.
