or influence of any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse
or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be children exploited in prostitution and
other sexual abuse.
The penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua shall
be imposed upon the following:
xxxx
(b) Those who commit the act of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a
child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse; Provided,
That when the victim is under twelve (12) years of age, the perpetrators shall be
prosecuted under Article 335, paragraph 3, for rape and Article 336 of Act No.
3815, as amended, the Revised Penal Code, for rape or lascivious conduct, as the
case may be: Provided, That the penalty for lascivious conduct when the victim is
under twelve (12) years of age shall be reclusion temporal in its medium period;
and
x x x x.
Before an accused can be held criminally liable for lascivious conduct under Section
5 (b) of RA 7610, the requisites of the crime of Acts of Lasciviousness as penalized
under Article 336 of the RPC above-enumerated must be met in addition to the
requisites for sexual abuse under Section 5 (b) of RA 7610, as follows: (1) the
accused commits the act of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct; (2) the said
act is perfonned with a child exploited in prostitution or subjected to other sexual
abuse; and (3) that the child, whether male or female, is below 18 years of age.[39]
A judicious examination of the records reveals that all the elements of the crime of
Acts of Lasciviousness under the RPC and lascivious conduct under Section 5 (b) of
RA 7610 have been sufficiently established. The prosecution was able to prove
AAA's minority at the time of the incident through the presentation of her
Certificate of Live Birth[40] showing that she was born on September 3, 1995. At the
time of the commission of the lascivious act, AAA was then 12 years old. It was
likewise established that accused-appellant, an adult who exercised influence on
AAA, committed a lascivious act by "squeezing" her vagina.
The courts a quo convicted accused-appellant of the crime of Unjust Vexation
instead of Acts of Lasciviousness on the finding that there was no element of
lasciviousness or lewdness in accused-appellant's act. In its Decision, the RTC even
pointed out that accused-appellant could not have intended to lie with AAA at that
moment considering that she still had her underwear on, and the act of "squeezing"
her private part was not demonstrative of camallust.[41]