A 48-year-old crew worker was arrested after allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl inside the restroom of a gasoline station in Marikina City on Tuesday, July 8.

Authorities identified the suspect as “Joy,” a crew member at a convenience store located in a gasoline station in Barangay Concepcion Uno. He was arrested by patrolling officers of the Marikina City Police Station during routine enforcement of the city-wide curfew.

While patrolling the gasoline station for curfew violations on Tuesday night, police officers approached the victim’s sibling, who was waiting outside the restroom for the victim.

As they spoke to the victim's sibling, they said the suspect suddenly exited the women’s restroom, followed by the victim, prompting them to question his suspicious behavior.

The victim later said that the suspect allegedly kissed and inappropriately touched her before raping her. It was also reported that he gave her P150 after the sexual assault.

However, the suspect denied the allegations and claimed he was only shaving in the women’s restroom because it was brighter. He also said he often went there and was already used to it.

“Ang nangyari doon, pagpasok ko may tao pala sa loob. ‘Oh anong ginagawa mo? Sige, bilisan mo d'yan’ kasi ayoko ngang [kapag] nag-aahit ako, [biglang] may pumasok na babae. Nakakahiya, s'yempre bawal (What happened was, when I went in, I didn’t know someone was already inside. I said, ‘Oh, what are you doing? Hurry up,’ because I didn’t want a woman suddenly walking in while I was shaving. It’s embarrassing, and of course, it’s not allowed),” he said.

He also denied giving the victim any money, saying he was familiar with the children who would sometimes ask to have their coins exchanged for bills at their store. He said the girl might have done that elsewhere and not at their store on that day.

“Yung bata na ‘yun matagal ko nang kilala. Matagal na ‘yun nanghihingi, namamalimos. Yung mga bata kasing ‘yun, pag nakabuo ng pera, nagpapabuo po sa amin ‘yun (I’ve known that child for a long time. She’s been asking for money for quite a while. Those kids, when they manage to collect coins, usually come to us to have them changed),” explained.

“Minsan P100, minsan P50. Hindi ko alam saan galing ‘yun, baka yung pera na ‘yun nagpabuo sila sa ibang store (Sometimes it’s P100, sometimes P50. I don’t know where that money came from, maybe they had it changed at another store),” he added.

The suspect is now in police custody and faces statutory rape charges under Republic Act 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997).