Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 27-year-old man from Samoa accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female for a period of 5 months is now in custody after he was arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court. During his arrest, police discovered drugs in his pocket.

The government claims that it was on the early morning of Dec. 14, 2021 when a couple walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) with their daughter to report an alleged sexual incident involving their daughter and an older man. The couple and their daughter were later identified as the 16-year-old victim and her parents.

The couple also told police that the defendant is a young man from their neighborhood. Investigators interviewed the victim and her parents separately.

According to the victim’s father’s statement to investigators, he only became aware of the alleged incident after he discovered that his daughter was missing from their home on the late night of Dec. 13. It was his son who alerted him that his daughter was not in the house.

Contacting his wife, who was working at the time, he asked if she knew the whereabouts of their daughter, to which his wife responded that she had no idea. The father told police that there were times his wife would take his daughter with her to accompany her to her workplace at night.

This led to him investigating the matter and that’s when he later discovered text messages on his daughter’s cell phone from a person named ‘Army’, who was later identified as Amiatu Timata, the defendant in this matter.

It appeared from the text messages between the victim and the defendant that something had happened between them over a period of 5 months and they had also engaged in a sexual relationship since September of last year.

When investigators interviewed the victim regarding her side of the story, she said she had met Timata at the Laufou Shopping Center around July of last year and he had approached her, saying he wanted to make friends with her. Timata also asked her if she could come to his place in Malaeimi. She told Timata that she couldn’t because her father doesn’t allow her to hang out with men, but Timata told her that he would make sure nobody knew about their friendship — especially her father.

The defendant also asked the victim for her phone number so that he could call her at night to check on her. The second week into their friendship, the victim and the defendant began talking through text messages using Facebook and the friendship grew closer.

After two weeks of meeting each other, the defendant then asked the victim if she would come to his house at night to hang out with him. The victim refused, but the defendant kept asking her to please come to his house so that they could talk more. The victim finally agreed and went to the defendant’s house at night in the last weekend of August of last year — without informing her parents of her whereabouts.

It was during that first visit to the defendant’s home late at night where the first alleged crime of rape occurred when the defendant raped the victim despite her telling him she did not want a sexual relationship.

The victim described when and how the rape happened, including that she tried hard to push the defendant away but he was too strong for her and that while he was raping her, the victim put his right hand on the victim’s mouth to stop her from yelling out.

It was that day that the sexual relationship between the defendant and the victim started and continued until the late night of Dec 13, when the victim’s father discovered that his daughter was missing from home.

According to the victim’s statement to investigators, they had sexual relations more than 10 times between August and December of last year. She described the instances to the investigators, noting that they would have sex two times a day when they met up at the defendant’s home.

There were times that Timata gave her money ranging from $20 to $50 to buy her phone data so that they could communicate via Messenger at night.

The victim was taken by child protective services for an assessment at the LBJ Medical Hospital and was later released to her parents.

On the morning of Dec. 14, officers went to Malaeimi to locate Timata however, he was not at his residence. His uncle told police that Timata left their house early in the morning to go fishing with his cousins.

Timata was apprehended from his friend’s home one week after the parents filed their complaint and was transported to the TPS for questioning. During a body search of Timata, before he was transported to the TPS, a small baggie containing a green leafy substance was discovered in his rear pocket.

When questioned by investigators, Timata first confessed and admitted to the sex allegation against him. He told investigators that he knew the victim was a minor, however, his desire for a relationship did not stop him from committing the crime.

However, he denied the allegation that he raped the victim on the first night of their sexual relationship, saying it was consensual. But, he did admit sending text messages to the victim using his Facebook, and that he asked the victim to come to his place on the night of the alleged incident.

When questioned about the green leafy substance discovered in his possession, Timata said it belonged to him. He had bought it from another man for his personal use.

Timata made his initial appearance in Court last month where he waived his rights to a preliminary examination.

The defendant is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, an unclassified felony; along with one count of rape and two counts of sodomy, both class B felony, punishable by imprisonment of not less than five years not more than fifteen years; and one count of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

Bail is set at $25,000.

If he posts bond, Timata is ordered to remain law abiding, not leave or attempt to leave the territory without the court’s permission, and not make any direct or indirect contact with the government’s witnesses, including the victim and her family. If he encounters her in public, he is to walk away peacefully.

The court made it clear to the defendant that “no direct contact” means, no phone calls nor Facebook messages at all.

Timata appeared in High Court two weeks ago for his arraignment, where he entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him.

His pretrial conference is set for March of this year.