The criminal conviction of a science teacher for lascivious acts in his office against two students who are also brothers has been affirmed by the Court of Appeals (CA).

The testimonies of the brothers were found credible by the CA Twenty-Third Division which likewise rejected the teacher’s argument that his office was too cramped for the incident to have taken place.

In its 13 December 2024 decision penned by Associate Justice Richard Mordeno, the CA sustained the teacher’s conviction but modified the nomenclature of the crime to “lascivious conduct under Section 5 (b) of Republic Act 7610” based on the age of the victims.

The accused was meted 12 to 15 years’ imprisonment for each of the four counts of lascivious conduct, and ordered to pay P165,000 in civil indemnity, damages, and fines for each count.

The teacher was charged after the two brothers, who were then 12 and 14 years old, reported the incident to authorities in 2017.

The 14-year-old alleged that the teacher called him to his room to ask for his help in cutting gate pass slips but the teacher touched him inappropriately and made lewd advances, he said.

The student though first completed his task before leaving the room, and added that he did not tell anyone because he was afraid and did not know what to do.

But the matter was reported upon learning that the same thing happened to his younger brother.

The 12-year-old alleged that the teacher had tried to rape him and made lewd advances on four occasions, when the teacher asked him to go to his office during his free time to help in encoding students’ names in his computer.

It was denied by the teacher, saying the physical structure of his small office makes it physically impossible to have committed the lascivious acts as narrated by the 14-year-old. The latter could have easily escaped as well since he was sitting near the door, he said.

He also claimed the incidents could not have happened because other students came by his office around the same time.

The teacher in his defense for the allegation of the 12-year-old, said this came about after he warned the boy that his low scores in the quizzes and failure to submit assignments might cause him to fail his subject and repeat the grade.

He also said he could not have committed the alleged acts given the layout of his room, and questioned the lack of precise dates given.

But the lower court convicted him of four counts of acts of lasciviousness, while dismissing the charge of attempted rape.

He elevated the issue to the CA, questioning the credibility of the brothers’ testimony against him.

The CA said the small and cramped nature of the teacher’s office does not negate the commission of the crime.

“It is a settled rule in criminal law that lust is no respecter of time and place,” it said, adding that sexual abuse can be committed even in crowded places.