Diocese forms committee to probe rape charge vs priest

Amid the furor caused by the scandal, the Butuan Diocese in Mindanao has formed a committee to investigate the claims of an 18-year-old girl that a parish priest had raped her. Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos said he expects a recommendation to be issued after the investigation, the Union of Catholic Asian News reported late Tuesday. However, De Dios Pueblos gave no further details of the committee’s work to investigate the charges against parish priest Fr. Raul Cabonce, the UCAN report said. The UCAN report also said De Dios Pueblos declined to comment on Cabonce’s whereabouts or those of the alleged victim. Cabonce, parish priest of St. Anne in Tubay town, faces charges including two counts of rape, child abuse and acts of lasciviousness, before the provincial prosecutor’s office. His accuser is a high school student who was a domestic worker at the convent. Earlier, the alleged victim claimed Cabonce began molesting her in September 2010, and that she was raped last February 27 and then again on March 3. Cabonce had denied the allegations against him and accused local politicians of trying to discredit him because of his defense of mining activities in the town. — LBG, GMA News