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	Priest Faces Charges for Caressing Girls during Confession By Jolene Bulambot Inquirer March 3, 2008 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080303-122558/Priest-faces-charges-for-caressing-girls-during-confession CEBU CITY, Philippines -- The Cebu City prosecutor has recommended the filing of child abuse charges against a Catholic priest who allegedly caressed and tickled seven high school girls while hearing their confession two years ago. Reversing an earlier decision dismissing the case, city prosecutor Nicolas Sellon found probable cause to indict Fr. Benedicto Ejares for violation of Section 10 of Republic Act No. 7610, which refers to various forms of child abuse. Seven third-year high school students from Abellana National High School accused Ejares of placing his arms around their shoulders, moving his hands down and inserting them inside their sleeves during confession at the grandstand of the Cebu City Sports Complex on November 14, 2006. Ejares was also accused of pinching and tickling the complainants on their forearms and toying with the straps of their bras during confession. "These inappropriate acts, committed by no less than a minister of God and in utter disregard of the solemnity and sanctity of the religious activity, are certainly injurious to the moral and spiritual values of these minor children and, therefore, prejudicial to their development," the prosecutor said. Sellon noted that Ejares, in his counter-affidavit, did not deny the acts, except for toying with the bra straps, which he said may have been "accidental." According to the prosecutor, Ejares said his gestures were his own novel way of hearing confession, which he experimented with in the past in order relieve the tension of the penitents. In resolutions dated July 4, 2007, and September 29, 2007, assistant city prosecutor Fernando Gubalane dismissed the cases of acts of lasciviousness against Ejares for lack of merit. But in the modified resolution dated February 28, 2008, Sellon said Ejares could be held liable for violation of Section 10 of the Child Abuse Act that covered other acts of abuse. Section 10 (a) of RA 7610 could extend to acts that merely disturb a child psychologically and emotionally, even without inflicting psychological injury. "Psychological abuse is merely one form of child abuse and is separate and distinct from those other modes of child abuse," the resolution said.
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