Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A father accused of abusing his 6-year-old son by assaulting him is now in custody after he was arrested last month.

The defendant made his initial appearance in Court.

He is charged with two counts of the information including abuse of a child involving domestic violence and 2nd-degree assault involving domestic violence, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

Bail is set at $10,000.

THE CASE

On the morning of Mar. 15, 2022, a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) reporting that a woman had walked into the Catholic Social Service with her two kids, seeking help for her 6-year-old son, who had allegedly been assaulted by her husband, the defendant in this case.

The 6-year-old son is also named in the affidavit as P.A.

Several police officers met up with the woman along with her two kids to discuss the issue.

According to P.A’s mother, on the morning of the previous day, Mar. 14 around 11am, her husband assaulted her son. The victim’s mother further stated to police that when she got home from the store, her 16-year old step-daughter told her that the defendant beat up P.A with a stick and slapped him in the face.

P.A’s mother then had a verbal argument with her husband about his abuse of her son. The victim then checked her son’s body and saw scratches on his back and he had a swelling on his head.

Investigators approached the victim and interviewed him about what happened, in the presence of his mother. According to the victim’s verbal statement to investigators, the defendant beat him up with a hard stick on his back and slapped the right side of his mouth two times. The victim also stated that the defendant hit him in his chest and his head with his closed fist, once.

Officers then attempted to locate the defendant at his residence and elsewhere, but were not successful at the time.

However, last week, the defendant was finally arrested and taken to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) where he was booked and detained.