I did not know that my 16-year-old daughter has a boyfriend and one day she was crying and shared to me that her boyfriend forced her into having sex with her. I was able to speak with him and he said my daughter gave consent as they were in a relationship. I want to file a case against him but he could use this excuse. Do we have a legal basis to file a case especially when my daughter can prove that she was threatened?

Linda

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Dear Linda,

There is already a Supreme Court (SC) ruling that a victim’s admission of being in a relationship with her abuser does not imply consent to sex. Clear and convincing evidence of consent is still required to acquit the abuser from a rape charge.

The sweetheart theory is often made a defense in cases of acts of lasciviousness and rape. In this case, reliance on the sweetheart theory is misplaced as your daughter is a minor and that she will testify on the acts of threat and force done by the abuser.

In the case of Jhopet Toralde v. People, G.R. No. 264724 (2025), the Supreme Court rejected the abuser’s sweetheart defense, affirming that being in a relationship does not grant the right to force sex. The Court stressed that proving a romantic relationship is not enough — there must be clear evidence of consent. “Love is not a license for lust and a love affair does not justify rape, for the beloved cannot be sexually violated against her will.” Here, the abuser was sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, or a maximum of 40 years in prison, and ordered to pay the victim P225,000 in damages.

As mentioned by the SC, “[r]ape is particularly odious, one which figuratively scrapes the bottom of the barrel of moral depravity, when committed against a minor.”

You may pursue the rape case against your daughter’s abuser and prove the acts of how he specifically forced or threatened her, to obviate the self-serving defense of sweetheart theory.

Atty. Angela Antonio