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	Priest Cleared on All Lascivious Acts By Katriana N. Tabanao and Karlon N. Rama Sun.Star October 4, 2007 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/10/04/priest.cleared.on.all.lascivious.acts.html CEBU CITY — A Roman Catholic priest accused of lascivious acts while hearing confessions of public high school students in Cebu City last November 14 has been cleared of the complaint. While Fr. Benedicto Zozobrado Ejares' conduct may have been "inappropriate," it was not "lascivious," the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office said in the resolution dismissing the complaint. Join forum on Sandiganbayan's guilty verdict on Estrada plunder case. Post comments here. The complainants decried the decision and are asking for a re-investigation of the case. "Sakit sa among part kay wala mi nakuha nga hustisya (The ruling is painful because we did not get justice)," said Ana (real name withheld) in an interview over ABS-CBN's TV Patrol Central Visayas. The complainants also asked the Catholic Church to take action against the priest. The National Bureau of Investigation (NB), which looked into the incident, wants a copy of the resolution to study its options. "We want to study the office's findings deeper so we can act accordingly. A motion for reconsideration is one of the options," said NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos. Ejares faced seven counts of acts of lasciviousness under Section 339 of the Revised Penal Code, child abuse covered by Republic Act 7610 and sexual harassment under Republic Act 7877, which covers people who have power or authority over victims. Several female third year high school students complained that Ejares touched them inappropriately when he heard their confessions during a Life in the Spirit seminar for Abellana National High School. The students are all minors. About 20 students were reported to have been touched inappropriately by the priest, but only seven submitted sworn affidavits that became the basis of the complaints. One student said she saw Ejares place his hands on the shoulders of the penitent ahead of her. The priest then "toyed" with a strap of the penitent's bra. The student said that when it was her turn to confess, Ejares did the same and even pinched and tickled her forearm. Prosecutors said there was no sufficient evidence to establish probable cause to charge the priest. Cebu City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon approved the resolution upon review of Assistant Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane. Gubalane approved "en toto" the resolution of investigating prosecutor Alexander Acosta. Prosecutors said in the resolution that the statements of the complainants indicated that the priest's actions of putting his arms around their shoulders, touching their arms and backs and toying with their bras' straps "was just a matter of routine or habit." The resolution also said that the parts of the body touched by the priest "are not even "private parts" as ordinarily understood. The prosecutors also said "we are not dealing here with an ordinary human being" but with someone who is considered an "alter ego of Jesus Christ." They said it would "require an unreasonable overstretching of one's imagination" to conclude that what Ejares did in the midst of several students and priests and in broad daylight were "meant to be lascivious and with lewd designs." Prosecutors, quoting a Supreme Court ruling, said that "in these crimes, it is indispensable that the act or conduct is not only lascivious by itself but was also perpetrated with lewd designs." They said the most that can be described of the priest's actions was that these were "inappropriate." Prosecutors also said that Ejares could have been charged with unjust vexation, which is considered a lighter offense, but the period for filing such a case has elapsed and the priest can no longer be held accountable for it. The resolution also cited a case where the accused, who was inside the church, approached the girl from behind, forcibly embraced and kissed her and fondled her breast. The Court of Appeals ruled that the accused is only guilty of unjust vexation, "considering the religious atmosphere and the presence of many persons, the conduct of the accused cannot be considered lascivious. He performed the said acts either to spite the girl or to force her to accept him as lover." At the NBI, meanwhile, de Lemos was incredulous when told that prosecutors didn't see malice in the way Ejares touched the students during confession. "Maybe for the priest there was no malice. But from whom do we deduce malice from? Certainly the students who were shivering and crying felt malice. They felt violated," de Lemos said. Agents who took part in the investigation also could not believe that prosecutors ruled the way they did. "If there really was no malice, how come Fr. Ejares went into hiding afterwards? We sent subpoenas and even communicated with the Archdiocese of Cebu," one agent said. "Clearly, the actions displayed and some words uttered by Ejares in receiving the confession of the minor female students were deeds and words which debase, degrade or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human beings," de Lemos said.
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