-17-year old girl accuses priest of rape
“I was so afraid and confused. He is a priest; I attended
mass and received communion from him. After that first time I saw that
he was not at all what he showed the world to be,” she said.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
She believed him to a be a man of God, but he turned out to be the one who would abuse and torment her.
Seventeen-year old “Leah” is currently under the protection and
custody of women’s group Gabriela as she and her family begin their
fight for justice against what has been done to her by a priest in
Tubay, Butuan City.
The 17-year old girl is accusing 47-year old priest Fr. Raul Cabonce
of repeatedly sexually abusing and raping her while she was under his
care in his parochial residence in Butuan. Leah was one of Cabonce’s two
wards. She began staying in the priest’s official residence after he
made an offer to Leah and her family that he would help send her to
school. A mutual acquaintance and Leah’s neighbor facilitated Leah’s
transfer to the priest’s parish.
In a detailed affidavit, Lead described in full and incriminating
detail how the priest began to show interest in her and how the interest
escalated to sexual abuse and rape. According to Leah. Cabonce first
abused her on September 2010.
Seventeen-year old “Leah” wants her abuser and rapistpunished so “He won’t do what he did to me to other children, other women.” (Photo by Ina Alleco Silverio / Bulatlat.com)
It was not the first time that Leah saw the priest conducting himself in such a way.
“I had previously seen him touching Rachel (not her real name); and when seated he would pull Rachel to his lap and touch her just about everywhere. I felt very uncomfortable and ill whenever I saw him do that to her, but I was afraid to say anything.”
When she brought it up with Rachel, the 20-year old told her that “it didn’t matter.” She told Leah that she and her family were very indebted to the priest for all the help he had given them since Rachel was a fifth grade student.
Leah said she first believed that what Cabonce did to her did not really mean anything and so she resolved to put it out of her mind. Her hopes that it would not be repeated were immediately put to an end by February 27, 2011 when Cabonce made further advances.
On that date, Cabonce made Leah give him a massage and ,in the process, forced her to have oral sex. The minor was almost paralyzed with fear especially after the priest allegedly threatened to kill her and her family if she said anything to anyone about what happened. The priest reportedly owns three guns — two of them short arms, and Leah has seen all of them.
“I was so afraid and confused. He is a priest; I attended mass and received communion from him. After that first time I saw that he was not at all what he showed the world to be,” she said.
Leah also found out that the priest has a girlfriend, supposedly an older girl who attended college also in Butuan. She often saw the girl in the convent and she stayed with the priest in the parish house.
“There was also a time when I was able to read the sent box of her cellphone and I saw also Fr. Cabonce’s messages to her. It was obvious from the messages that they have a relationship,”she said.
Leah and Rachel by then had practically ceased to have contact with the outside world. Whenever Cabonce was in the parish, he ordered them to stay indoors and not communicate with anyone, not even through their cellphones..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/08/26/seventeen-year-old-girl-accuses-priest-of-rape/
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