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Rapadas: Zero tolerance for domestic violence
Newly sworn in Chief Prosecutor Leonardo M. Rapadas promised zero tolerance for domestic violence under his watch.
In an interview, Rapadas said as long as there is evidence of family violence or domestic violence, there will be an arrest, there will be charges, and that the Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division will take that case to court.
Chief Prosecutor Leonardo M. Rapadas poses with his wife, Attorney General Edward Manibusan, and the staff of the Office of the Attorney General during his swearing in at the CNMI Supreme Court on Monday afternoon. (Ferdie de la Torre)
“I have zero tolerance for family violence because it’s not just between the two—the husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend,” he said.
In some cases, Rapadas said, the youngest, the weakest of the family, is the one that gets hurt because they see the harm that is happening within the family.
“They see Daddy hitting Mommy, Mommy crying. Mommy’s staying with Daddy because of various reasons,” he said.
Rapadas said domestic violence cases are different because the dynamics are different versus, for example, a bar fight.
“That’s different than two people who are supposed to love each other and care for each other, [yet] are harming each other,” he said.
In the old days, he said, domestic violence was the last thing police officers wanted to go to because people in general believed that that was something to be kept within the family.
Rapadas said they have come to know after many years of prosecuting that that kind of attitude causes problems within the family structure and ultimately, in the worst-case scenarios, death in some cases.
Because of that, he said, there will be zero tolerance during his term as chief prosecutor.
On the other hand, Rapadas underscored the importance for his administration to follow what his predecessor did, which was building a better relationship with law enforcers.
He said the OAG does not make cases as that is the role of the law enforcement agencies that surround them.
“If the law enforcement agencies don’t bring us cases, then we don’t have anything to charge,” said Rapadas, adding that one of the things that he needs to do is to continue building a good relationship with law enforcers.
He said they’re trying to work out a system where they get more cases back into the OAG’s Criminal Division.
