Model Deniece Cornejo said there was no malice behind the kisses that businessman Cedric Lee gave her inside the elevator as was shown in the CCTV footage that was acquired by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The said footage shows Cornejo, Lee, and several others inside the Forbeswood Heights elevator in the early morning of January 23, 2014. It was taken after the group brought comedian-TV host Vhong Navarro to the police station for allegedly attempting to rape Cornejo.
The real relationship of Cornejo and Lee was again questioned because of the kisses Lee gave Cornejo on both sides of her cheeks. Some say he wouldn't kiss her that way if they were just friends, like what Lee claimed in his previous interview.
Before he resigned as Lee's spokesman on February 16, Atty. Raymond Fortun was still able to defend the businessman by saying it was just a friendly kiss. Cornejo, he said, even looked like she didn't want the kisses at all.
In the Feb. 15 broadcast of 24 Oras, Cornejo also denied that she and Lee have any romantic relationship.
She also took to Instagram to defend herself, and said that people should not blame her because she is the victim.
I am explaining my side on the matter because I would like to educate the Filipino people that people are trying to undermine my character. Victim blaming is a very common practice throughout the world especially for rape victims. She was dressed provocatively. She had a bad reputation. She should have known better than to put herself in that situation." Search the internet and it is always the same story. Just watch Ellen Adarna's comment about me.
Adarna is a friend of Lee that's why she was interviewed regarding the issue. On January 31 in her interview aired by TV Patrol, she said: "The only thing that I have to say is that, like, you know, as a woman, you shouldn't allow things like that, every detail, like even a touch... If you feel violated, you say it out loud. You say it to the person that, 'You can't do this to me.'"
The Taguig Court on Friday dismissed Cornejo's petition for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Navarro.
On the same day, the Department of Justice (DOJ) held its preliminary investigation on the cases filed by Navarro against Cornejo, Lee and his group, as well as on the rape case filed by Cornejo against the It's Showtime host.
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