Plastic surgeon Joel Mendez, a high-profile celebrity in the late 2000s, was re-arrested on Sunday in connection with several rape cases filed against him in 2015.
Police Regional Office 10 announced yesterday that Mendez was captured at a mall in Cagayan de Oro City, based on a warrant of arrest issued on Feb. 4 by the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court. This is in connection with his cases of attempted rape and two counts of rape through sexual assault for which he was first arrested in Mandaluyong City in 2018. Mendez posted a PHP360,000 (US$7,442) bail shortly after his first arrest.
The surgeon’s victim, who was then a 17-year-old model, was allegedly raped by the doctor in his SM Megamall clinic in 2015.
Brigadier General Rolando Anduyan, the regional director, said that the authorities “will never stop until all wanted person[s] will be arrested and put them behind bars since it is our mandate to enforce the law, [and] ensure the safety of other people that maybe [a] possible victim.”
Mendez, who was convicted of tax evasion in 2016, is currently detained in Cagayan de Oro City and will be transferred to Mandaluyong.
In addition to his rape cases, the surgeon is being sued for allegedly failing to pay the insurance of at least 40 of his employees to the Social Security System, estimated to be around PHP1.8 million (US$37,212).
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