A Pasay court has granted the motion of GMA7 independent contractors Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz to quash the charges of acts of lasciviousness filed against them by actor Sandro Muhlach.
In granting the petition of Nones and Cruz, Branch 46 of the Pasay City Metropolitan Trial Court ruled that the acts of lasciviousness are part of the rape charge filed by state prosecutors before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. This charge stems from the alleged sexual abuse Muhlach suffered last year.
“The prosecution resorted to an overkill by filing the instant information for acts of lasciviousness when clearly the acts are constitutive and or simultaneous and are deemed absorb in the rape case with the alleged sole intent and purpose of arousing and ultimately gratifying the accused own sexual desire,” part of the ruling penned by Presiding Judge Rechie Ramos-Malabanan states.
“The Supreme Court has categorically held that acts of lasciviousness are necessarily included in rape. Indeed, the acts of lasciviousness being complained of before this court are necessarily included in the charge of rape before the RTC,” the court adds.
To recall, Muhlach filed a complaint for rape through sexual assault, as well as acts of lasciviousness, against the two in August last year, claiming they sexually molested him after the GMA Network gala night in July 2024.
Cruz and Nones have both denied sexually abusing Muhlach when they appeared before the Senate inquiry last year.
Both Cruz and Nones also clarified that they are not executives of GMA Network, as was claimed in social media posts that circulated after the alleged incident, but are independent contractors.
As independent contractors, both said they would not risk their experience and honor by sexually harassing or abusing anyone, especially someone from a well-known family in the entertainment industry.
However, the Department of Justice, in an October 2024 resolution, stated it found sufficient evidence to indict the two for rape through sexual assault, as Muhlach was able to provide a detailed account of the alleged incident.
