Rape charges against three US Marines in Philippines to be downgraded

[Judi Lynn]

Rape charges against three US Marines in Philippines to be downgraded
(AFP)

18 April 2006

MANILA - Philippine Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said on Tuesday he would downgrade rape charges against three US Marines from being perpetrators to accessories.

However, he affirmed rape charges would be filed against the main suspect, Daniel Smith, over the alleged rape of a 22-year-old Filipina in the former US naval base of Subic last November.

The four Americans were all originally accused of raping the Filipina just after taking part in joint US-Philippine military exercises in Subic, north of Manila.

“I downgraded (the other three) to accessories (due to) the fact that they were there, they have knowledge and they just abandoned her,” Gonzalez said referring to the three US Marines, Dominic Duplantis, Keith Silkwood and Chad Carpentier.
(snip)

“There is no gang rape. In all the statements of the woman, there was only one who molested her,” he stated. “There is no evidence of conspiracy.”
(snip/...)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April648.xml§ion=theworld&col=

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Did anyone really expect anything different? If the girl and the friend she was visiting had not been from powerful families, this would have never been taken seriously in the first place, even with the knowledge they threw her out of a moving van, without her clothes, in the night, in front of witnesses, and sped away. You bet it was "consensual."

[silverojo]

1. Ah, yes, support our troops!

Let them do anything they want--they're above the law! :mad:

[0007]

2. This has overtures like the Duke Lacrosse fiasco

Gonzalez said the alleged victim’s own accounts showed that only one person raped her.

“There is no gang rape. In all the statements of the woman, there was only one who molested her,” he stated. “There is no evidence of conspiracy.”

The Marines have insisted only one of them had sex with the woman and that it was consensual.

The men are in the custody of the US embassy. It has refused to hand them over to local authorities until the trial starts, citing a ”visiting forces agreement” that allows them to keep soldiers in their custody during legal proceedings.

The alleged rape has triggered anti-American street protests in the former US colony. Leftist groups have been using it as an issue to attack the government’s ties with its main security ally.

[FloridaPat]

3. A pregnant lady was shot by her army husband a year ago in Tampa.

He is still free on bail. Nowhere near a trial date.