Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female for a period of 6 months is now in custody after he was arrested last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court. Police data also revealed that a warrant was issued two years ago for Toelupe Time on the allegation of stealing and burglary.

The government claims that it was on the early morning of Oct. 24, 2021 when a couple walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) with their daughter to report an alleged sexual incident involving their daughter and a man. The couple and their daughter were later identified as the 16-year-old victim and her parents.

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 early morning of Oct. 24. 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.

A heated verbal argument erupted between the couple on the phone and the wife put the blame on her husband for not taking good care of their children, especially their 16-year-old daughter.

This led to the father investigating the matter and that’s when he later discovered text messages on his daughter’s cell phone from a person named “Dove”, who was later identified as Toelupe Time, 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 6 months and they had also engaged in a sexual relationship since April of this year.

When investigators interviewed the victim she said she had met Time at a volleyball game around April of this year and he had approached her, saying he wanted to make friends with her. She told Time that she couldn’t because her father doesn’t allow her to hang out with older men, but Time told her that he would make sure nobody knew about their friendship.

The victim and the defendant continued to meet up at the soccer field during volleyball games and were able to create a close friendship.

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 utilizing 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 February — without informing her parents about her whereabouts.

It was during that first visit to the defendant’s home late at night where the first alleged crime of rape occurred — as despite her telling him she did not want a sexual relationship, he insisted, strong-arming her and during the rape he put his right hand on her mouth to stop her from yelling out.

From this first incident (rape), a sexual relationship between the defendant and the victim continued until the morning of Oct. 24th, 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 April and Oct of this year. She described the instances to the investigators, noting that they would have sex 2 to 3 times a day when they met up at the defendant’s home.

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

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

When questioned by investigators, Time first confessed and admitted to the sexual 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.

He denied the allegation that he raped the victim on the first night of their sexual relationship, saying it was consensual. However, he did admit sending text messages to the victim utilizing 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, Time said it belonged to him. He had bought it from another man for his personal use.

It was during the interview that investigators informed Time about an arrest warrant under his name for his involvement in a burglary and stealing incident in the Happy Valley area.

THE 2019 WARRANT

The government alleges that on May 22, 2019, a couple contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting police assistance after they discovered that their daughter’s home — located next to their house had been burglarized by unknown people and several items were stolen from the house.

Several police officers responded to the call and were able to meet up with the couple who reported the alleged burglary.

According to the couple, their daughter and her two children were off island and they were looking after their house.

On the night of May. 21, 2019, they checked the house and everything was fine, however, on the next morning, May 22, they noticed that the back door was open. They checked the house and realized that someone had burglarized it on the previous night.

While investigators were looking for any lead in the case, a man living close to the area informed an off-duty police officer that he has some information regarding the break-in at the house.

The man stated that his nephew saw two men enter the house on the night of the alleged incident. The men were identified as Ioapo Mate, co-defendant and Toelupe Time.

Mate, was apprehended from his residence and police transported him to the TPS for further investigation. He informed investigators that it was Time’s plan to burglarize the house and steal the items from inside, so they could sell them to get money to buy drugs.

Mate entered the house through the back door while Time stood outside as the lookout. According to Mate, he took a laptop, an X-Box game, two new pairs of sport shoes and clothes.

After interviewing Mate, investigators tried to locate Time, however, the defendant was nowhere to be found at the time.

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

The government charged Time in two separate cases. In the first case, Time 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.

In the second case, Time is charged with 1st degree burglary and one count of stealing, both class C felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than 7 years, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $20,000

If he posts bond, Time 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.

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

Time appeared in High Court last week for his arraignment, where he entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him.

His pretrial conference is set for January 2022.