Minor and collateral inconsistencies

This is the tragic story of an 11-year-old girl, Leticia, resulting from an act of depravity by the common law husband of her biological mother, Charo, from a previous relationship.

The culprit here is Nardo, then 50 years old, who is the common law spouse of Charo. Nardo was a farmer who tilled the rice field while Charo collected shrimps and shells at the nearby beach from 4 to 7 p.m.

The unfortunate incidents happened when Charo was out of their house picking shells and shrimps. Leticia was repeatedly threatened and forced by Nardo to have sexual congress with him. Nardo succeeded in forcing her to lie down on the floor and warned her that he would kill her and her mother if she called for help. Thus, Nardo succeeded in having sexual intercourse with Leticia, who cried and pleaded with him to stop. She grew fearful as she saw a knife within Nardo’s reach. Then Nardo threatened Leticia that he would kill her and her mother if she tells her mother about what happened.

The same incident occurred again a week after. Nardo told Leticia to lie down, penetrated her vigina and then went outside while Leticia stayed in the room upstairs, crying, until Charo came home later that evening. For the succeeding months Nardo continued to rape Leticia, who kept silent out of fear.

Five months later, Charo observed some changes in her daughter’s body. Leticia’s breast had swollen, she had lost her appetite and was always sleeping. Then after two months, Leticia’s belly had become noticeably bigger. She was brought to the dispensary for a pregnancy test, which showed that she was indeed pregnant.

Fearing for her life, Leticia refused to reveal the identity of the father of her child. Neighbors suspected that Nardo got her pregnant. When Charo asked Nardo, Nardo admitted to her that he was the father of Leticia’s child. Later on, Nardo and Charo went to Charo’s brother Danny to confess the crime that he had committed against Leticia. According to Danny, Nardo felt remorseful and even told Danny to kill him to avenge Leticia. Thus, Danny immediately reported the matter to the police as Leticia subsequently gave birth to a baby boy.

So Nardo was charged with two counts of