What was established beyond reasonable doubt in this case was that petitioner touched, using his middle finger, AAA's sexual organ which was then fully covered by a panty and a short pants. However, such is insufficient to hold petitioner liable for attempted rape by sexual assault. As above intimated, the mere touching of a female's sexual organ, by itself, does not amount to rape nor does it suffice to convict for rape at its attempted stage.42 The Court's explanation of attempted penile rape in Cruz v. People43 is instructive: In attempted rape, therefore, the concrete felony is rape, but the offender does not perform all the acts of execution of having carnal knowledge. If the slightest penetration of the female genitalia consummates rape, and rape in its attempted stage requires the commencement of the commission of the felony directly by overt acts without the offender performing all the acts of execution that should produce the felony, the only means by which the overt acts performed by the accused can be shown to have a causal relation to rape as the intended crime is to make a clear showing of his intent to lie with the female. Accepting that intent, being a mental act, is beyond the sphere of criminal law, that showing must be through his overt acts directly connected with rape. He cannot be held liable for attempted rape without such overt acts demonstrating the intent to lie with the female. In short, the State, to establish attempted rape, must show that his overt acts, should his criminal intent be carried to its complete termination without being thwarted by extraneous matters, would ripen into rape, for, as succinctly put in People v. Dominguez, Jr.: "The gauge in determining whether the crime of attempted rape had been committed is the commencement of the act of sexual intercourse, i.e., penetration of the penis into the vagina, before the interruption." (Italics and citations omitted.) Applying by analogy the above pronouncements to attempted rape by sexual assault, petitioner's direct overt act of touching AAA's vagina by constantly moving his middle finger cam1ot convincingly be interpreted as demonstrating an intent to actually insert his finger inside AAA's sexual organ which, to reiterate, was still then protectively covered, much less an intent to have carnal knowledge with the victim. An inference of attempted rape by sexual intercourse or attempted rape by sexual assault cannot therefore be successfully reached based on petitioner's act of touching AAA's genitalia and upon ceasing from doing so when AAA swayed off his hand. Instead, petitioner's lewd act of fondling AAA's sexual organ consummates the felony of acts of lasciviousness. The slightest penetration into one's sexual organ distinguishes an act of lasciviousness from the crime of rape. People v. Bonaagua44 discussed this distinction: It must be emphasized, however, that like in the crime of rape whereby the slightest penetration of the male organ or even its slightest contact with the outer lip or the labia majora of the vagina already consummates the crime, in like manner, if the tongue, in an act of cunnilingus, touches the outer lip of the vagina, the act should also be considered as already consummating the crime of rape through sexual assault, not the crime of acts of lasciviousness. Notwithstanding, in the present case, such logical interpretation could not be applied. It must be pointed out that the victim testified that Ireno only touched her private part and licked it, but did not insert his finger in her vagina. This testimony of the victim, however, is open to various interpretation, since it cannot be identified what specific part of the vagina was defiled by Ireno. Thus, in conformity with the principle that the guilt of an accused must be proven beyond reasonable doubt, the statement cannot be the basis for convicting Ireno with the crime of rape through sexual assault.45 (Emphasis supplied) Since there was neither an insertion nor an attempt to insert petitioner's finger into AAA's genitalia, petitioner can only be held guilty of the lesser crime of acts of lasciviousness following the variance doctrine enunciated under Section 446 in relation to Section 547 of Rule 120 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure. Acts of lasciviousness, the offense proved, is included in rape, the offense charged.48