SC slams door on US war vet's rape conviction

The Supreme Court denied with finality the bid of an American war veteran to overturn his conviction for rape in Negros Occidental province. A report on Visayan Daily Star said the high court upheld the ruling of Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles convicting Victor Pearson of rape. Rowena Guanzon, the lawyer of Pearson’s victim, said the Supreme Court’s ruling came out two months after the Court of Appeals affirmed Pearson’s conviction. Pearson was convicted to 80 years in prison for molesting twice a 15-year-old girl in 2000 in Ilog town, Negros Occidental. But the CA in its decision reduced the moral damages from P500,000 to P50,000 for each count of rape. It also ordered Pearson to pay P50,000 as civil indemnity for each count of rape. Pearson is now detained at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa. - GMANews.TV