Man accused of rape caught in Mandaue motel

A 15-year-old high school student in Mandaue City accused her landlord of repeatedly raping her.

The suspect, Rodulfo Atis, 61, a resident of barangay Looc, was arrested in an entrapment operation inside a motel at the Mandaue Reclamation Area where he and the girl were caught together.

The girl said it was the ninth time that the man brought her to the motel.

She said she was forced to repeatedly go with Atis to the motel after the man threatened to kill her father.

The complainant also alleged that the suspect threatened to ridicule her.

The suspect, who buys and sells welding machines, claimed it was only their second time together in a motel and that it was the girl who forced him to go there.

The girl said Atis first befriended her by treating her to eat out.

The girl said on the day that her father died due to a heart attack last September, the suspect insisted that they go to a motel.

At the time, the girl said she was problematic as her family was confronted with financial problems due to unsettled hospital bills and house rentals amounting to P6,000.

Around 4 p.m. last Wednesday, the girl said Atis again asked her to go with him to a motel.

The girl said she finally found the courage to tell her mother of the crime.

The mother and the daughter reported to the Opao police precinct.

Chief Insp. Wilson Abot, chief of the Opao police, said they immediately planned an entrapment operation against the suspect.

Police said Atis picked up the girl on board a pick-up vehicle in their agreed meeting place in barangay Cambaro. They then proceeded to a motel.

Police coordinated with the motel’s management that led to the arrest of the the landlord.

The girl was later turned over to social workers.

A charge of child abuse was initially filed against the suspect.

Abot said they are still waiting for the results of the girl’s medical examination before rape charges are filed against the man./CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA