Aussie gets 40 years in jail for rape

An Australian living in the Philippines for more than a decade has been convicted of sexually abusing a Filipina in 2013, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday.

The DOJ said the Regional Trial Court of Malolos, Bulacan, found Ronald Ian Cole guilty of rape and sentenced him to imprisonment of up to 40 years in addition to paying his victim P225,000 in damages.

The DOJ disclosed that the complainant lived in the house owned by the accused, who had been permanently living in the country since 2011 under a special resident retirement visa. The woman alleged that sometime in January 2013, while she was ill, the suspect drugged her and repeatedly raped her.

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The accused denied the accusations, but Judge Golda Pablo-Salamat ruled that the complainant sufficiently established the fact of rape and the guilt of the accused. The DOJ said Cole was also facing charges for qualified trafficking in persons at another family court. —JANE BAUTISTA