The Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 46 has dismissed the acts of lasciviousness case filed by actor Sandro Muhlach against GMA Network independent contractors Jojo Tawasil Nones and Richard Dode Cruz, citing legal redundancy as the allegations are already covered under a separate rape case filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In its ruling, the court granted the motion to quash submitted by the accused, stating:
“The acts of lasciviousness before this court are necessarily included in the charge of rape before the Regional Trial Court.”
The decision further explained that the prosecution’s move to file additional charges was excessive.
“The prosecution resorted to an overkill by filing the instant informations for acts of lasciviousness when clearly the acts are constitutive and/or simultaneous and are deemed absorbed in the rape case with the alleged sole intent and purpose of arousing and ultimately gratifying the accused’s own sexual desire.”
Following the court’s decision, Atty. Maggie Abraham-Garduque, legal counsel for Nones and Cruz, expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
“We are happy that the court saw the legal infirmity that we had been raising at the onset of the case,” she stated in an interview with INQUIRER.net.
Meanwhile, Muhlach and his legal team have yet to release a statement regarding the court’s decision.
The legal battle began in August 2024, when Sandro Muhlach accused Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz of rape through sexual assault and acts of lasciviousness, alleging that the two contractors molested him and introduced him to illegal substances following the GMA Gala Night in July 2024.
By October 2024, the DOJ formally charged Nones and Cruz with rape, leading to a highly publicized case.
