A government prosecutor will conduct a preliminary investigation this afternoon on a complaint filed by the Philippine National Police against a man who allegedly abused a teenage girl in Dumaguete City last week.

The complaint for child abuse, acts of lasciviousness and threat, stemmed from an incident when the suspect, who is in his 40s, allegedly took three girls with ages ranging from 13 to 16, for a ride on his motorcycle and later took them to an indigenous house in Barangay Daro, for snacks.

One of the girls had claimed she was abused by the man, while the two others could not yet be located, SPO4 Josefina Lakandula of Women and Children’s Concerns Desk of the PNP-Dumaguete, said.

The 13-year-old complainant Rosemarie (not her real name), said she and the two other girls had been offered hamburgers by the suspect while they were hanging out at the boulevard in Dumaguete. They went with the suspect to the nipa hut, and instead, the two were dropped off at the national highway in Daro, Lakandula said.

Rosemarie was reportedly offered a cellphone in exchange for a massage, and she agreed, the police said.

The girl told the police that at the nipa hut, the man wrapped his arm around her and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth that smelled of alcohol. She said she kicked the suspect and fled on foot, but he followed her on his motorcycle.

Two intelligence operatives of the Dumaguete police, who were in the vicinity for another case, saw the girl running, prompting them to respond, while the suspect, who spotted the police, sped off. However, he was arrested the following day when he was traced through the plate number of his motorcycle.

Lakandula added that apart from child abuse, also included in the complaint sheet were an act of lasciviousness for allegedly kissing the girl, threat for warning her that he would run over her with his motorcycle as he was pursuing her.

The suspect had been charged in 1999 for rape, that also involved a minor female, but the case was dismissed for no apparent reason, Lakandula said.

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