By Jennifer P. Rendon
A carpenter was arrested over claims that he sexually abused his stepdaughter.
Larry Mapa, 51, was nabbed at his home in Barangay Aranjuez, Balasan, Iloilo morning of Feb 1, 2022.
Members of Pontevedra Police Station, together with Balasan Police Station, served against Mapa an arrest warrant for violation of Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997) docketed as Criminal Case Numbers C-386-21 and C-387-21 for Rape (RPC Art 266-A).
No bail was set for Mapa’s temporary liberty.
Police also served an arrest warrant against him for violation of Republic Act 7610 ((Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).
Bail was set at P200,000.
Judge Faustino Valenzuela Roxas Jr. of the Regional Trial Court 6 (RTC-6) Branch 14, Roxas City issued the arrest warrant on Dec. 21, 2021.
Staff Sergeant Era Bernalez of the Balasan PNP Women and Children’s Protection Desk said the alleged rape incidents happened in 2019 when the then 14-year-old victim was still living in Pontevedra, Capiz before the onslaught of Typhoon Ursula.
She allegedly kept the incident from her family members,
For a time, the victim was left in the care of her relatives while her mother, a widow, went to live with Mapa in a different province.
In 2021, the mother decided to have the victim and her siblings live with her.
But the victim resisted against going with them.
When asked, she revealed that she was sexually abused almost two years back.
It was her late father’s siblings who pushed for the filing of charges against Mapa.
