A Estonian man has been arrested for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl at a beach resort on Bantayan Island.
Xander Tann faces two counts of rape and trafficking charges, said Shiela Illustrisimo of Santa Fe town police’s Women and Children’s Protection Desk.
The 29-year-old denies the allegations, and says he was set up.
Ms Illustrisimo said the suspect arrived in the Philippines last December and befriended the complainant last month through an online dating site. He did not meet the girl until he went to the beach resort in Santa Fe last week.
Tann was staying there when he learned that the girl, from Mandaue City, was at her aunt’s house in Madridejos, on the northern tip of the island.
Police told the Cebu Daily News that he drove there from the resort in the south of the island to meet the girl last Saturday.
“While in Madridejos, the girl and the suspect went out several times but in the company of her relatives. She never went with the suspect alone,” Ms Illustrisimo said.
On Tuesday this week, Tann returned to the girl’s house and drank with her relatives. After they went to bed, they left the girl and Tann outside the house.
Tann then asked the girl to drive to the town centre with him to buy more beer. The girl told the police that when they arrived, the stores were closed.
The girl said she then became worried when Tann continued driving. She claims she asked him to drop her off at her home, but he ignored her.
While driving, the two found a store where Tann bought some bottles of beer.
The girl told the police that she was unfamiliar with the place and thought that they were already heading back to Madridejos.
The girl fell asleep and upon waking up was surprised to see they were already parked in a beach resort in Santa Fe at past 5am yesterday (Wednesday, June 28).
According to the girl’s account, she got out of the car and ran, but Tann caught her and took her to his room. She said she again tried to run away, but Tann chased her and tripped over.
She then returned to check on his condition before going to seek help from a caretaker, who was then confronted by an angry Tann. “The caretaker couldn’t do anything as the foreigner was bigger than him,” Ms Illustrisimo said.
At this point, it is alleged, Tann carried the girl back to his room where he raped her twice.
According to the police account, officers then arrived from Bantayan in search of a foreign driver who had previously nearly hit a policeman on a motorcycle.
“The policeman who was nearly hit by the foreigner’s car noticed that he was with a teenage girl that’s why they coordinated with us to locate him,” explained Ms Illustrisimo.
The officers then barged into Tann’s room where they found him with the girl. It was at this point that the girl made the allegation of rape. Tann did not resist arrest, police said.
The girl was later taken to the town’s hospital for an examination where it was confirmed that sex had taken place.
Tann was detained at the Santa Fe police precinct pending the filing of charges against him.