Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 70-year-old grandfather accused of raping his 15-year-old granddaughter is now in custody after he was arrested by police last week pursuant to an arrest warrant from the Court.

Moreover, he admitted to the accusations made by his granddaughter.

(To protect the identity of the victim in this case, Samoa News will not name parties involved in this matter.)

The defendant made his initial appearance in District Court last week.

He is charged with one count of rape and one count of sodomy, both class B felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than fifteen years; along with one count of incest and two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $50,000.

The defendant waived his rights to a preliminary examination and his case was bound over to the High Court where he entered a not guilty plea to all five counts when he appeared for his arraignment this week.

Pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 30.

THE CASE

On August 17, 2021 at around 3:30p.m, the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) office received a phone call regarding a rape case reported by a young girl, who had walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS).

A CID detective was assigned to investigate and upon arrival at the TPS, the victim, a 15-year-old girl was observed looking distressed and disturbed. The victim, who was identified in the court affidavit as L.P was interviewed by two CID detectives.

The interview revealed that L.P went to pick up her check from where she was working for the summer program, and while she was there, an adult working there noticed her crying and began questioning her.

The victim eventually revealed that she was crying because she was going through some personal issues at home. She told the adult who questioned her that she simply could not take it any longer and she wanted to share.

She said that she and her grandfather had been having sexual encounters since last year.

The victim stated that it all began with a normal hug from her grandfather, but that it quickly escalated to the point where her grandfather forced himself on her and had been engaging in sexual intercourse with her for many months.

She later revealed to investigators that her grandfather had forcibly raped her several times. The victim told investigators that it was on the morning of Aug. 17th before she went to work for the summer program that her grandfather allegedly raped her. She tried to push her grandfather away but he was too strong for her.

According to the victim, she used to get rashes between her thighs. So, her grandfather would get some medicinal herbs, make an ointment out of them, and apply it to her thighs. She told investigators, her grandfather would use the opportunity to touch her private parts while applying the ointment.

L.P mentioned an incident last year where her grandfather asked her to come inside his room to discuss something very important with her. At first, L.P refused to enter her grandfather’s room, however, arguing with her grandfather, L.P agreed to go to his room. In the room, L.P was raped by her grandfather. She tried hard to push him away, but she said he overpowered her.

L.P still did not give up — and she said she gathered all her strength at that point and kicked her grandfather off of her. She was able to get away from him right then and there.

L.P further stated to investigators that the incidents began last year and have continued almost every day since then. L.P did not recall any specific dates for these incidents because there have been far too many. She even mentioned that her grandfather would almost always tell her to come sleep in his room. He’d be furious if she ever refused.

Most of the time, when they were in bed, her grandfather would come in and cuddle with her, making her feel very uncomfortable. When he cuddled with her, he would touch her inappropriately.

According to L.P’s statement to investigators, her grandfather would also threaten her not to tell anyone what happened between them and if she told anybody, he said he would hurt her badly.

L.P recalled another incident where her grandfather gave her $50 after he allegedly raped her. He told her to use the money to buy anything she wanted.

When L.P told her grandfather that she wanted to buy a new cell phone, her grandfather became very mad and told her that he doesn’t want to see her with a cell phone. He further told the victim that he doesn’t want to see her hanging out with boys in the village or at church.

Four hours after the victim was interviewed, police arrested the defendant from his home and later transported him to the TPS for questioning. Before he was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down per standard procedure. Nothing was found in the defendant’s possession.

The defendant was Mirandized and waived his constitutional rights; and was willing to be interviewed and make a statement.

The defendant stated verbally that a few years ago he noticed a significant change in the girl’s behavior. She acted more mature and wanted to hang out with her friends — especially boys. He was perplexed as to why L.P acted in this manner. So, he laid her on his bed and examined her. He came to realize that she was no longer a virgin.

When questioned by investigators about applying the ointment to L.P’s thighs, the defendant admitted that he did what any grandfather would do to help his granddaughter when he noticed that she keeps scratching her thighs almost everyday. So, he went out and collected some herbs, which he then applied to his granddaughter’s thighs.

The defendant told investigators that at first, nothing happened between him and his granddaughter when he applied the ointment, however as he kept applying ointment to her granddaughter’s thighs, he noticed how his granddaughter reacted.

Lastly, the defendant admitted to investigators that he raped his granddaughter several times in his room. He further admitted to all the allegations against him mentioned by the victim to investigators.

After he confessed to investigators he asked for them to give him a second chance so that he can go back to his family. He stated that he doesn’t want to go to jail because he’s an elderly grandfather and he depends on his family for his health and everything he needs in life.