43
People vs Fontanilla
23 SCRA 1227
Facts:
On September 1960, Fe
Castro, a fifteen-year old virgin, was brought by her mother to the house of
Mariano Fontanilla and his second wife, Magdalena Copio, a sister of Fe's
mother, to serve as a helper. Fe Castro testified that during her stay in the
house of Fontanilla for about three months, the accused succeeded in having
carnal knowledge of her repeatedly, the total number of times she could not
recall. Prior to this incident, the accused had made amorous overtures and advances
toward her.
Fe Castro further testified that she subsequently repeatedly yielded to
the carnal desires of the accused, as she was induced by his promises of marriage
and frightened by his acts of intimidation. The accused made love to her during
the day when his wife was away and at night when the latter was already asleep.
Their intimacies lasted for almost three months until her aunt, the wife of the
accused, caught them in flagrante on the kitchen floor. The following day she
returned to her parents, and revealed everything to her mother two days later.
Issue:
Whether or not qualified seduction
is present when there is no element of deceit
Held:
Yes.
Ratio:
While deceit is an essential element of ordinary or
simple seduction, it does not have to be proved or established in a charge of
qualified seduction. It is replaced by abuse of confidence. Under Article 337
of the Revised Penal Code, the seduction of a virgin over twelve and under
eighteen years of age, committed by any person in public authority, priest,
house servant, domestic guardian, teacher, or any person who, in any capacity,
shall be entrusted with the education or custody of the woman seduced is
"constitutive" of the crime of qualified seduction even though no
deceit intervenes or even when such carnal knowledge was voluntary on the part
of the virgin.
Submitted by:
G-one T. Paisones
Submitted to:
Atty. Cisco Franz S. Maclang
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