Child trafficking

This is a case of child trafficking punishable under Republic Act (RA) 9208 and Child Abuse punishable under RA 7610. The main issue resolved here is the credibility of the complaining witness who is only 14 years old.

This is the case of Ann, who had a misunderstanding with her mother and ran away from home. She stayed with her friends in different barangays until she met Danny through a common friend. Danny asked Ann if she would be willing to engage in sexual intercourse for money, to which Ann agreed because she needed money and had no one else to depend on but herself.

The next day Danny already found her a customer. She met the customer and went with him on board a red car. The customer then asked Ann her age. So she told him she was 18 years old, as instructed by Danny. About 7 p.m, they arrived at the house where the customer had sex with her as he fondled and touched her breast and other parts of her body. After an hour, the customer brought her back to Danny’s house and paid her P2,000. Ann in turn paid Danny P600 and then bought some food and went home.

Later Ann told her mother everything she had gone through. So, her mother immediately went to the police station and reported the incident, where Ann and her mother executed their sworn statements. The next day Ann was examined by a doctor in a hospital who found lesions in different parts of her hymen.

So Danny was charged before the Regional Trial Court with the crimes of child trafficking and child abuse penalized under RA 9208 and RA 7610. At the trial, Ann testified and narrated what happened to her as above set forth. On the other hand, Danny denied the accusations and told the court that on the day when the alleged crimes happened, he was at a small-town lottery with his wife until evening. His denial and alibi were corroborated by three other women witnesses.

After trial, however, the RTC convicted Danny of the crimes charged based on the sole testimony of Ann which it found to be candid, straightforward and unequivocal. Her claim that a sexual intercourse between her and a client had transpired was corroborated by the medical findings of the doctor who examined her and found lesions in her