Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man and his wife accused of beating up his 17-year-old sister were arrested and charged.

The couple made their initial appearances in District Court last week.

The man, Stan Purcell is charged with one count of abuse of a child, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, along with one count of 3rd-degree assault, a class  A misdemeanor.

His wife, Tamaitia Purcell is facing a class A misdemeanor charge of 3rd-degree assault.

Stan’s bail is set at $5,000 while his wife was released on her own recognizance.

THE CASE

On Mar. 11, 2022, Leone Police Substation (LPS) received a call from Vailoa regarding a man assaulting a 17-year-old minor. Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the person who reported the matter, along with the minor, who is the victim in this case.

When questioned by officers, the minor stated that she and her sister-in-law (Tamaitia Purcell), a co-defendant in this matter, were verbally arguing about their family issues. While they continued arguing, her sister-in-law started to raise her voice and verbally told the minor to shut up.

The minor then walked up to her sister-in-law’s room and asked her why she told her to shut up. The minor’s sister-in-law then asked the minor why she was approaching her which seemed like she wanted to fight.

The minor walked out of the room but her sister-in-law kept on yelling at the girl and told the minor to fight her, and then they started fighting.

The minor’s sister-in-law pulled the minor’s head, continuously hitting her by using her bare fist, dragged her outside of the house and verbally told the minor to get out.

The minor approached her sister-in-law and fought back, and that’s when her sister-in-law then called her mother and her husband, Stan Purcell (defendant) on her cell phone.

The minor’s sister-in-law sprinted to the kitchen and got a foot long, white knob knife and chased the minor through their backyard and threw it at her. She kept on shouting profanities at the minor and walked into the house.

About a half hour later, the male defendant came home together with his mother-in-law and came looking for the minor. The minor then sprinted towards their mango tree and tried to conceal herself from her brother (defendant).

According to the government’s case, the defendant’s mother-in-law threw a bottle of water at the victim while the defendant grabbed the victim’s shirt and physically punched her head with his bare hands and dragged the victim down to the ground.

The defendant then grabbed a 7-inch brick and threatened the victim by saying, “Do you want to die today”? After being beaten up by her brother, the victim then ran away from the house.

Due to the victim’s injuries, LPS contacted the EMS for medical treatment for the minor girl. EMS technicians stated that the victim’s injuries consisted of bruises above her left eye and scratches on her ankles and elbows.

Stan and Tamaitia were booked and later transported to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF). The mother-in-law was not charged or booked