Sandro Muhlach’s lasciviousness case vs alleged rapists dismissed by Pasay court

A Pasay court granted GMA independent contractors Jojo Nones and Richard Cruz’s motion to quash the acts of lasciviousness case concerning actor Sandro Muhlach’s alleged sexual abuse.

“The acts of lasciviousness before this court are necessarily included in the charge of rape before the Regional Trial Court,” a part of the decision released by the Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 46 states, referring to the rape charges filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Nones and Cruz at the Pasay City RTC for their alleged sexual abuse of Muhlach.

The court further noted that “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 absorb in the rape case with the alleged sole intent and purpose of arousing and ultimately gratifying the accused own sexual desire.”

Muhlach and his camp have yet to comment on the matter as of this writing.

Meanwhile, Maggie Abraham-Garduque, lawyer for Nones and Cruz, said they are happy with the court resolution.

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“We are happy that the court saw the legal infirmity that we had been raising at the onset of the case,” Abraham-Garduque told INQUIRER.net when sought for comment.

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Sandro filed a complaint of rape through sexual assault and acts of lasciviousness against Nones and Cruz in August 2024, saying the GMA contractors allegedly molested him and taught him to use illegal drugs after the GMA Gala in July last year.

The DOJ then filed the criminal charges against Nones and Cruz in October 2024.