Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 37-year-old man accused of sodomizing his 8-year-old daughter was arrested last month and is being held in custody on a $100,000 bond.

The defendant made his initial appearance in Court last month.

He is charged with two counts of child molesting, a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years and not more than thirty years or life imprisonment; two counts of 1st- degree sexual abuse and two counts of deviate sexual assault, both class C felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 7 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

THE ALLEGATION

According to the government’s case, it was on June 15, 2022 around 10:32p.m when a police officer received a phone call from a man in Vailoa asking for police assistance regarding a family disagreement within their household.

The police officer who received the call contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) and several police officers responded to the call and met up with a woman at her residence in Vailoa.

Officers spoke to the woman in front of her residence where she briefed officers about the matter. According to the woman, the matter is about her husband who sexually abused her 8-year-old daughter.

The woman who met up with officers at the scene is now identified as the mother of the 8-year-old victim. The victim’s mother further told officers that her husband (later identified as the defendant in this matter) was still inside their bedroom where the incident allegedly occurred and he was intoxicated.

Other officers approached the victim and quickly transported her and her mother to the TPS for questioning. Other officers approached the defendant who was still inside the bedroom and asked him to come with them to the TPS to discuss the matter at hand.

The defendant at first refused to comply with officers, but the defendant finally agreed and complied with officers’ instructions.

While being placed in the police unit, the defendant spontaneously said that he was wrong and that he didn’t mean to touch his daughter. He blamed the alcohol for his actions.

The defendant told officers that he’s not a bad man and he loves his family especially his daughter, however, alcohol changed everything inside his family and his mind. He tried to think like a man but he was unable to avoid the devil and his temptation.

The defendant, his wife and the victim were interviewed separately at the TPS.

According to the victim’s mother’s statement, at about 10p.m, she was preparing for bed and her daughter (victim) asked if she could watch cartoons on her cell phone. She then gave the victim her cell phone while she slept. Before she slept, the defendant was already asleep because he was intoxicated from drinking earlier before he went to bed.

While sleeping, the victim’s mother told investigators that she was facing the wall until she turned to face her daughter and discovered the defendant’s head below her daughter’s legs.

At first, she did not think that anything was happening until she had a clear view of the defendant’s action. She woke up and asked the defendant what he was doing below her daughter’s legs but the defendant told her that they were watching movies on the phone. The defendant also told his wife to stop bothering them and go back to sleep.

The victim’s mother asked the defendant again what he was doing below the victim’s legs and the defendant replied with the same answer. The victim’s mother figured that the defendant was lying therefore, she then asked her daughter (victim) if anything happened and the victim lied to her mother saying nothing happened.

The mother asked the victim again and the victim kept lying until the mother attempted to beat her. That is when the victim told her mother about the defendant’s action that night. The victim told her mother that she was playing cartoons on the phone when the defendant had pulled her clothes and sexually abuse her.

The victim’s mother confronted the defendant about his action, which caused the commotion within their family and the victim’s mother’s uncle heard about what happened and contacted police for assistance.

Investigators interviewed the victim in the presence of her mother. The victim agreed to tell investigators everything she remembered the defendant did to her.

According to the victim’s statement, she was lying on her back watching cartoons on her mother’s phone when she felt the defendant touch her thighs. The next thing that happened was the defendant whispered in her ear not to mention any of this to her mother.

The victim said she was scared but she didn’t do anything. She continued lying on her back watching cartoons on her mother’s phone when she felt the defendant removing her clothes and then she felt the defendant perform sexual contact with her private parts.

The victim said she tried to move but the defendant told her to hold still. The defendant stopped when the mother turned to face them and caught the defendant pulling up the victim’s clothes after sexually assaulting her.

The victim told investigators that this is not the first time the defendant did these things to her — sexually abuse her, and told of another incident.

After that incident, the defendant then instructed the victim not to tell what happened to anybody including the victim’s mother’s uncle. The defendant promised the victim that he would do something bad to her if she revealed anything to anyone in the family.

The victim told investigators that there were other times while she was doing work or helping her mother out inside the house when the defendant touched her inappropriately. Sometimes she felt embarrassed at what the defendant did to her but the defendant told her that there was nothing for her to worry about. He told the victim that what was happening between the two of them was just nothing and she shouldn’t think about it.

The defendant was Mirandized and he agreed to make a statement about what happened. The defendant also provided a written statement to investigators after the interview.

According to the defendant, he drank about five cans beers that night before he went to sleep and he was very intoxicated. He woke up and he was tempted by the devil to sexually abuse his daughter.

The defendant told investigators that his wife caught him in the middle of his actions so he pulled up his daughter’s clothes and pretended that he was playing cartoons with her.

That’s when his wife woke up and asked him what he was doing to the victim. The defendant lied to his wife saying they watching movies together. His wife did not believe him, according to the defendant’s statement to investigators, so, his wife woke up, looking at him and asking him again what he was doing below the victim’s legs.

That is when his daughter told her mother the truth and according to the defendant, he could not lie anymore because his daughter was revealing what happened. He then confessed and apologized to his wife for his actions and begged her to keep  her voice down and let them deal with the issue alone.

The defendant also mentioned to investigators other incidents between him and his daughter. He told investigators that all of these incidents happened inside their bedroom.

According to the defendant, all these incidents occurred when he was under the influence of alcohol.

The defendant also told investigators that if his wife had not caught him, he would have continued to have a sexual relationship with his daughter.

He said he wanted to have sexual intercourse with his wife but he couldn’t because she is pregnant, so the only option for him was his daughter.

The defendant also stated that most of the time these incidents would occur during night time or early morning around 2a.m-3a.m when his wife was deeply asleep.