BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – She was about to ride on a zipline for the first time. She queued and waited for her turn to be given the harness for added safety.
She proceeded to the platform and was assisted by the resort staff to wear the harness before riding on the zipline.
But Taylor (not her real name) said she got dismayed when the suspect placed the harness around her waist without even informing her of such purpose.
“The harness was put on to me tightly. While I was doing so, he touched my waist and moved his hands to my inner thigh,” said Taylor, a 13-year-old high school student.
Taylor said she was surprised when the suspect’s hand touched her “inner thigh” which she said made her uncomfortable.
But Taylor said she did not complain because she was afraid of the suspect.
Taylor and eight high school students from a private school in Iloilo City yesterday lodged a criminal complaint against the resort staff that allegedly touched their private body parts while assisting them to ride on a zipline on Feb.16.
Assisted by the parents, the students filed the complaint for acts of lasciviousness against the 29-year-old suspect before the Office of the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor.
They claimed the suspect sexually harassed them when he touched their private body parts while he was assisting them in putting a harness before riding the zipline in a resort in San Miguel, Iloilo.
Operatives of the San Miguel police station brought the suspect to the prosecutor’s office for the inquest proceedings.
Panay News is withholding the identity of the suspect and the resort until they formally answer the charges.
In her affidavit, Taylor said that at first she just kept the incident to herself.
But when they were having a souvenir photo, Taylor said one of her friends approached her and asked if she, too, was “touched” by the suspect in her private body parts.
“It dawned on me that I am not only the one who experienced the same. I learned that my other classmates and friends were also harassed by him,” said Taylor.
She said they reported the incident to their teacher, who then verified it with the resort manager.
The resort manager also apologized to them, although the students did not find sincerity in him.
Taylor said she later learned that 21 other students experienced the same harassment from the suspect.
The students informed their parents about the incident, which the latter decided to file the complaint against the suspect.
“The suspect deliberately touched my inner thigh without my consent and with intent of gratifying his sexual desire. I felt so harassed and violated because of the incident,” said Taylor.
In a separate interview, the suspect denied the charges. He said he was caught off guard when the police went to their house and invited him to the police station over the weekend.
“Wala gid ko nag dayum nga ma-file gid sila kaso. Wala gid ako sang may ginhimu nga malain. Gin-assist ko man lang sila magtakod sang harness para sa safety nila kag part man ina sang trabaho ko,” the suspect lamented.
He said it was his first time to be accused of such crime. He expressed confidence the complaint will be dismissed by the prosecutor for lack of evidence./PN
