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16-year-old girl calls out her uncle, alleging sex abuse

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of sexually abusing his 16-year-old niece was arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court, after the victim’s parents filed their complaints against him with the police last month.

(Samoa News has chosen not to identify the man due to the victim being underage, despite his being named in court documents.)

THE CASE

The government alleges that on the morning of Dec. 30, 2021, a couple walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report that their daughter had been sexually abused by their son-in-law. An interview was conducted.

During the police interview, it was discovered that there was another alleged victim the defendant tried to sexually abuse during the same time period. The second victim is the first victim’s cousin.

The couple told investigators that their daughter, who is the victim in this case, is a 16-year-old girl. After speaking with the couple regarding this incident, investigators questioned the victim.

The victim told investigators of several alleged incidents when her uncle sexually abused her, which included inappropriately touching her, dirty-talking to her, as well as undressing her while she was sleeping. There were also a time her uncle touched her inappropriately while she was doing her chores around the house.

One incident occurred when she and her friend were sleeping in the living room, and she woke up after she felt someone touching her chest and saw it was her uncle standing beside her. She stated that she could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from her uncle’s breath, because allegedly he had been drinking alcohol the whole night outside of their house.

The victim said she and her uncle live in the same house.

She went on to describe at least 3 other alleged incidents of attempted sexual abuse, occurring in 2021. One included offering her $50 to have sexual intercourse with him, which she refused, and yelled at him to get out of her room.

Investigators interviewed the victim’s friend who was present when the defendant allegedly touched the victim while sleeping in the living room. The victim’s friend confirmed the victim’s account. She also told the investigator that she pinched the victim hoping to warn her of what the defendant was trying to do.

Investigators picked up the defendant for questioning before he was transported to TPS where he was Mirandized. The defendant waived his rights and made a statement about the allegations against him.

He told police that he had gone to the living room to ask his niece where his phone speaker was. He failed to enter through the living room door, so he had entered through the living room window. He went over and sat next to the victim and removed the blanket. He continued to touch her body hoping to wake her up so he could ask the whereabouts of his bluetooth speaker she had used two days ago.

The defendant further stated that the victim woke up and found him beside her, so she called out to her mother to report him. The victim’s mother entered the living room and separated them.

The defendant also told investigators that the victim was always flirtatious with him. He also stated that he said some stupid things to the victim that night. And, although he had been drinking, he was still aware of what he was doing.

After questioning him, the defendant was booked and confined.

The victim’s parents further revealed during the investigation that every time their son-in-law consumed alcoholic beverages, they (victim’s parents) always locked the front and back doors to the living room because there have been prior incidents where the defendant tried to do the same thing with their niece. The defendant, 35, made his initial appearance in District Court last month.

He is charged with two counts of sodomy, a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment for 5 to15 years; and two counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $25,000.

If he posts bond, the court orders the defendant to make all of his court appearances, stay in close contact with his defense attorney, and not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim or her family and he must find another place to live.