May 2, 2014 5:51pm
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Tags: Zamboanga del Sur

A leader of a religious group in Zamboanga del Sur now faces charges of qualified trafficking and rape after two girls, both minors, accused him of forcing them to have sex with him after the group’s prayer sessions.

The girls said the group’s leader would offer them “salvation” in exchange for sex but that he also forced himself on them.

“Hindi kami makapagsumbong kasi mapapagalitan kami. Tatalian kami at ibibitin patiwarik,” one of them said in a report by GMA Northern Mindanao’s Sozie Alamban Friday on GMA News TV’s “Balita Pilipinas Ngayon.”

They said the incidents occurred several times last year.

But the suspect denied the accusations, saying he could not have done it since the relatives of one of the minors had been staying with his group.

“Nagtuturo ako ng moral values as a pastor,” he added.

The report said the girls were aged 15 and 16. It added the supposed rapes occurred in Aurora town in Zamboanga del Sur, where the group is based.

It said the two girls managed to escape last October and lodged a complaint before the Hall of Justice in Cagayan de Oro.

A medical examination found indications of rape on both girls, the report said.

‹ Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News