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Qualified Rape, G.R. No. 224212, November 27, 2019 - Set A

1) Romeo De Castro De Guzman was charged with two counts of qualified rape against his step-daughter AAA for incidents in 2003 and 2011. 2) The prosecution argued rape was qualified due to the step-daughter relationship. However, the Supreme Court ruled this was not established as no proof of marriage between De Guzman and AAA's mother was presented. 3) As such, De Guzman was convicted of the lesser crime of simple rape instead of qualified rape, as the stepparent relationship required to qualify the crime was not proven.

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210 views2 pages

Qualified Rape, G.R. No. 224212, November 27, 2019 - Set A

1) Romeo De Castro De Guzman was charged with two counts of qualified rape against his step-daughter AAA for incidents in 2003 and 2011. 2) The prosecution argued rape was qualified due to the step-daughter relationship. However, the Supreme Court ruled this was not established as no proof of marriage between De Guzman and AAA's mother was presented. 3) As such, De Guzman was convicted of the lesser crime of simple rape instead of qualified rape, as the stepparent relationship required to qualify the crime was not proven.

Uploaded by

Jan-Nere Japay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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People of the Philippines vs.

Romeo De Castro De Guzman


G.R. No. 224212 (November 27, 2019)
Hernando, J.:

DOCTRINE

Qualifying circumstances must be properly pleaded in the indictment. If the same


are not pleaded but proved, they shall be considered only as aggravating
circumstances since the latter admit of proof even if not pleaded.

FACTS

Romeo De Castro De Guzman (De Guzman) was charged for two counts of qualified rape
against AAA, his step-daughter. AAA alleges that De Guzman raped her for two
instances; first, in 2003 while she was still 7 years old and the other in 2011 when she
was 15. Prosecution argued that the crime was qualified rape as AAA was the step-
daughter of De Guzman. RTC and CA convicted De Guzman for the said crime. De
Guzman appealed in the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Is there qualified rape?

RULING

No, there was none. De Guzman shall be convicted for the crime of simple rape.

A “stepfather” is the “husband of one’s mother by virtue of a marriage subsequent to that


of which the person spoken of is offspring. It presupposes a legitimate relationship
between the appellant and the victim’s mother. However, during trial, the prosecution
failed to establish this stepparent-stepdaughter relationship between De Guzman and
AAA. No proof of marriage was presented in order to establish De Guzman’s legal
relationship with BBB. In other words, De Guzman cannot be considered as the stepfather
of AAA as alleged in the Informations.

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