Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 21-year-old man from Malaeimi has been arrested and is facing several charges for allegedly having sex with a 13-year old girl multiple times.

Kose Logova’a made his initial appearance in District Court last week, where Judge Fiti Sunia established his surety bond in the amount of $10,000.

Logova’a is being charged with 2 counts of rape and 2 counts of sodomy, both class B felonies, punishable by imprisonment for a term not less than 5 years nor more than 15 years; 4 counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and 2 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a term of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

The government claims that it was on June 26, 2018 when a member of the victim’s family reported to police that his niece had been sexually abused by an adult male. Detectives from the DPS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) were assigned to investigate the matter.

Investigators interviewed the victim, and she stated that she had had sexual intercourse with the defendant about ten times. The victim further stated to police that she met the defendant when she slept over in Malaeimi in the home of a woman who used to babysit for her (victim) grandmother.

The victim told police that the first incident allegedly occurred on Apr. 18, 2018 at  around 1 a.m. She stated that while she was sleeping in the living room, Logova’a woke her up because he (defendant) couldn’t sleep. Logova’a asked her to have sexual intercourse with him.

According to the victim, she allegedly had sexual intercourse with Logova’a that early morning for about 5 minutes. After the alleged incident, Logova’a gave her $5.

The victim further told police that the last alleged incident occurred on Friday June 22, 2018 at around 11:30 p.m. behind her house behind a banana tree, where she had sexual intercourse with the defendant. According to the victim, this is the place behind her house that other incidents allegedly happened. She told police that she was in love with Logova’a, and Logova’a had told her multiple occasions that he loved her.

On June 23, 2018 around 11:30 p.m, Logova’a went over to where the victim was sleeping and tried to wake her up, unfortunate for him, the victim’s aunty woke up instead, causing Logova’a to flee from there immediately.

The aunty then asked the victim why Logova’a was trying to wake her up and the victim told her aunty about the sexual relationship between her (victim) and Logova’a.

On June 26, police officers attempted to locate the defendant at his home, but were unable to find him. Police officers then requested that the defendant’s family call them whenever Logova’a returned home.

Later on June 26 around 11:30 p.m, Logova’a walked into the Tafuna Substation with a family member. He was then warned of his constitutional rights which according to the police report, he understood and wished to waive his rights. He then told police that he wanted to make a statement about his sexual relationship with the victim.

When questioned by police, Logova’a admitted that they were having a sexual relationship, and he had sexual intercourse with her about four times. Logova’a further told police that the victim agreed to have sex with him every time he asked her.

In District Court, Logova’a waived his right to a preliminary examination (PX) and his case was bound over to the High Court for arraignment and further proceedings.

Last Friday, July 6, Logova’a entered a not guilty plea to all the charges against him when he appeared in High Court for his arraignment. His pretrial conference is now scheduled for Oct. 5.