SINGER Noven Belleza is facing a criminal case for allegedly sexually assaulting a fellow entertainer on the eve of the concert of comedian Vice Ganda last July 16.
Prosecutor Ma. Theresa Casiño found evidence to charge Belleza with sexual assault under Article 266-A, paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act 8353.
“The accused, with deliberate intent, did commit an act of sexual assault (upon the victim)...without her consent and against the latter’s will,” the charge sheet read.
Belleza stepped out of the detention cell after posting P120,000 as bail before the Regional Trial Court.
Assisted by his counsel, Belleza was brought to court where they processed his release order signed by Regional Trial Court Branch 7 Judge James Stewart Himalaluan.
Belleza, 21, of Bacolod City, refused to give a statement to the media, who sought his reaction after he made bail.
Belleza, the grand champion of ABS-CBN’s “Tawag ng Tanghalan” singing competition, allegedly tried to rape a fellow singer prior to the concert at IEC Pavillion in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
The complainant, a 19-year-old woman from Cebu City, said that Belleza asked her to accompany him to his condominium on Molave St., Cebu City, on July 15.
She asked for permission to use the toilet. When she got out, Belleza allegedly held her arms and pulled her toward him.
The woman said she tried to resist, but Belleza overpowered her.
“I pleaded, resisted, and shouted, but he continued kissing me in different parts of my body…I suffered bruises,” the woman said in her affidavit.
Although she was in shock, the woman said she managed to go home and tried to keep the incident to herself.
“I isolated myself and tried to sleep, but I was so confused, traumatized and I did not know what to do,” she said.
Although confused, the woman said she heeded the advice to report the incident to the police and to seek justice.
The woman said that Belleza even pleaded to her not to pursue the filing of complaint against him.
“I knew then that this matter was blown out of proportion that I will be involved in a very tedious, painful and harrowing case,” she said. (GMD/VoxPop Cebu)