Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man was arrested last month after allegations arose that 6 months ago he sexually assaulted at his home his 16-year-old niece who lived in the same house.

Samoa News is withholding names of parties involved in this case to protect the identity of the victim.

The victim, along with a relative made the report to police after the alleged incident took place.

The defendant, a 49-year-old father of four is charged with 6 criminal counts that include two counts of sodomy; two counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, all class B felonies, punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 15 years; and two counts of 3rd degree assault, both class C misdemeanors, punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, and a fine of up to $300, or both.

The defendant made his initial appearance last month where the court established his bail at a $35,000, surety bond.

If he can post bond, the court orders that the defendant is not to have direct or indirect contact with the victim or government witnesses; surrender his travel documents to the government attorney, and he is not to leave or attempt to leave the territory without a written order of the court.

The defendant refused to sign the copy of his arrest warrant that was attached to the affidavit to notify the court that he had received the copy of the arrest warrant and the government’s affidavit.

THE ALLEGATIONS

The government claims that on July 26, 2021 the victim (who is named in the affidavit as (VT), and her sister walked into the Central Police Station and reported that the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted the victim in their home.

A detective from the DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau (CID) was assigned to investigate the matter. The victim was interviewed by two CID detectives.

It appeared from the government’s case that the defendant and the victim, who are both from Samoa lived in the same house. However, the defendant immediately disappeared from the house when he found out that the matter had been reported to the police by the victim and her sister.

The victim told investigators that on July 20, 2021 around 4:50a.m, the defendant woke her up (victim) to prepare breakfast for their 75-year-old aunt and do the ironing for the victim’s school uniforms and the defendant’s clothes. While the victim was preparing breakfast for the family, the defendant came to her and allegedly touched her inappropriately.

The victim walked away and told the defendant to stop his stupid actions, but the defendant laughed and told the victim that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and take care of her in the future.

Immediately after this alleged incident, the victim reported it to her sister and her aunt what had allegedly happened and the sister in turn reported it to their mother, who is in the States. The victim’s mother told her to call the police if it happened again. The victim’s mother also called the defendant from off-island and scolded him for sexually abusing her daughter where the defendant immediately apologized to the victim’s mother on the phone and promised her that nothing would happen again.

Five days after the first alleged incident another alleged incident happened in the same house where the defendant and the victim lived.

The victim further reported to police in her statement that on July 25, 2021, she did not go to school because she had completed her exams and she was instructed by her elder sister to stay behind and prepare food for the elderly aunt. She then asked her sister to give her $20 to buy something for the aunt’s breakfast.

Before the defendant left the house for work, he knew that his niece was not going to school.

Around 10:30a.m, the defendant came back home and told the victim that he’s not feeling good and he wanted to stay home and help her cook food for their aunt.

The 75-year-old aunt was living in a separate house located behind the house where the victim and the defendant lived.

The defendant went to his room and got in his bed while the victim was lying on the couch in the living room watching TV and sometimes walking around the house during her clean up.

The victim told investigators while she was bending down cleaning the floor in the kitchen, she was shocked when she felt someone touch her inappropriately from behind. She immediately stood up and looked around and saw the defendant standing behind her, laughing.

The victim scolded the defendant, telling him to get out of the house however the defendant was laughing and told the victim to come with him into his room so that he could prove something to her. The victim stopped cleaning the floor and walked into her room before she decided to go to the living room to watch TV.

While lying on the couch in the living room, the defendant came and sat down behind her. He allegedly tickled her and started kissing her but she slapped him and told him to stop. She then stood up, walked inside her room and locked the door.

However, the defendant used a butter knife to open the door and made his way inside her room and found the victim lying on her bed. The defendant then held her hands and allegedly removed the thin wrap that was the only piece of clothing she had over her chest.

She struggled but he was too strong for her to get away from him. The victim told the defendant that she was scared, but the defendant told her that there was nothing to be scared about. He told also told the victim to relax and don’t move while he was going to make her feel better.

The victim told investigators that she was really scared and told the defendant to stop what he was doing, but the defendant continued inappropriately touch her and allegedly pulled her shorts and panties off and continued to sexually abuse her while she was crying and continuing to ask him to stop.

When the defendant finally stopped, he then asked the victim for her forgiveness. He also gave the victim $50 for her school fare and lunch. It was after this incident that the victim’s sister kicked the defendant out of the house. The defendant left the house and went to live with a friend in the Tafuna area.

On the following day, the victim was examined by doctor at the LBJ Hospital, and a sexual assault report was completed.

The defendant was not at home when police arrived to speak to him on July 25, 2021, as he had left the house after he knew the victim and her sister were planning to go to the police.

Police were not successful in their search for him until six months later. On Christmas day, Dec. 25th, 2021, the defendant was arrested at the friend’s house in Tafuna pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court.

During an interview with police, the defendant strongly denied all the allegations against him after he was Mirandized. However, after investigators informed him about the victim’s statement, the defendant then changed his mind and told investigators that he wanted to tell his side of the story.

According to the defendant’s statement to investigators, it all started at the beginning of 2021 when the victim came into his room and asked him if she could borrow money from him to send to her father in Samoa, and that she would do anything for him, in return.

The defendant gave the money to the victim but was at the same time confused on what things the victim would do for him. Days went by and the victim continued to borrow money from the defendant to send to her father and family in Samoa.

However, according to the defendant’s statement to investigators, it was July of last year when the victim approached him and asked if they could start a relationship. The defendant said he refused and blamed the victim for coming to him.

The defendant further stated to investigators that on the day of the alleged incident, they had a conversation, and started kissing. The defendant admitted going to the victim’s bedroom where he performed sexual acts on her. He further told police that the victim consented to the encounter.