A Spanish citizen who is set to be arraigned today (Friday) on charges of illegal sexual acts involving a 16-year-old Filipina in 2020 and possession of child pornography has not posted bail and is detained by the Bureau of Immigration.
Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar on Thursday said she was able to confirm from the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office that Spanish national Francisco Manuel Sanchez de Oria, 36, also known as Franco Sanchez, has been placed under detention at the BI, which is conducting deportation proceedings against him.
Last August 31, the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 15 issued a warrant of arrest against Sanchez who had been charged with 10 counts of violations of the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and one count of violation of the Anti-Child Pornography Act.
Villar said Sanchez was supposed to post a total bail of P2.2 million because the recommended bail for each count is P200,000.
Based on the information or criminal charge sheet filed with the RTC, Sanchez was accused of “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have sexual intercourse” in Taguig City with the victim who was “a minor, fifteen (15) years old at the time of the commission of the offense, or a child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse, to the damage and prejudice of said victim.”
In September, the DOJ said the prosecutors filed the charges before the RTC after conducting a preliminary investigation on the complaint filed last March 12 by the family of the now 16-year-old victim.
Former United States foreign service officer Dean Edward Cheves is facing similar charges before Pasay City RTC Branch 109 for having committed illegal sexual acts also with Jane.
The Justice department said that it is looking into the possibility of extraditing Cheves who is in the US where he has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia last Aug. 3 for engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of pornography.
Cheves had been assigned as a director of the US Embassy in Manila from September 2020 to February 2021.