Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 51-year-old man accused of abusing his mentally challenged stepdaughter several months ago was arrested by police last month and charged, after police finally found him at his home.

The defendant, Amani Reupena made his initial appearance in Court last month.

The defendant is charged with one count of abuse of an elderly or disabled adult involving domestic violence, a class C felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine of up to $5,000, but not less than $150, pursuant to A.S.C.A 47.0402, or both.

Bail is set at $10,000.

If he posts bond the court ordered the defendant not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim in this case, nor should he try in any way to reach out to her. He’s ordered to provide care for his other children who stay with him at his home and not to threaten them nor abuse them in any way.

THE CASE

On Feb. 7, 2022 at approximately 4:34 p.m a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) regarding a female who came to her house requesting help with her [step]dad who allegedly assaulted her.

Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the woman who reported the matter at her residence in Malaeimi. While entering the reporter’s house, officers observed a female sitting on a chair. The female was later identified as the victim in this case. The police officers described her as being panicked, and shaking and scared.

The victim was later transported to the TPS for further investigation after officers questioned an ASCC security guard regarding the case.

Upon arrival at the TPS, investigators met up with the victim where she stated her name but did not remember her date of birth, that’s when investigators became aware that she had a disability; however she was open [or clear] minded and remembered every detail of what had occurred at the time of the alleged incident.

As she was speaking with investigators, the victim kept looking around and sometimes looking out of the window. When asked by one investigator about the reason for her actions, she replied that she’s afraid of her stepfather and she’s looking around to see if he’s coming back to beat her up.

Investigators made it clear to the victim that she was in a safe place and if her [step]dad comes to the police station, he would not be allowed to touch her. She’s now under police protection and care.

When asked about the incident, the victim stated with tears that she was doing her own thing when her nephew came up to her and tried to interrupt her. Her nephew is her older brother’s son.

After she scolded her nephew, her nephew then went and reported what happened to her stepfather who was working with other men doing carpentry work for their family kitchen. She heard her [step]dad calling her name from inside the house telling her not to bother her nephew again or otherwise she will be in trouble.

As she continued with her own tasks, her nephew came back to her for the second time and tried to interrupt her. She then scolded her nephew and slapped him in the face. Her nephew went back and reported to her stepfather what she had done.

That’s when her [step]dad quickly came inside her room, allegedly grabbed a broom that was lying on the floor and threw it at her and hit her in the chest. The victim stated that she felt a lot of pain and that’s when she told her stepfather that she is going to call the cops on him because he assaulted her and she was feeling a lot of pain to her chest.

The defendant got angry and yelled at his stepdaughter and chased after her outside of the house. At first, the victim thought that her [step]dad would not come after her, however, when she saw that he was serious and he was coming to beat her up, that’s when she ran away from him, while calling out for help.

At that time, she accidentally fell in front of the neighbor’s house and hit her face on the ground. While she was on the ground trying to get up, her [step]dad came and immediately pulled her hair, dragging her body over the ground while slapping and punching her several times in the facial area.

She called out to him to please give her another chance but he did not stop punching and slapping her. The victim cried out and called out to the neighbors for help knowing that he was going to beat her badly.

Her neighbor heard her cries and rushed outside of her house to offer help. When the defendant saw the neighbor, he stopped assaulting his [step]daughter and immediately walked away.

The neighbor then took the victim inside her house before calling the police for help. The victim told investigators that she felt pain on her head when she fell on the ground and also the time when her [step]dad pulled her hair and punched her several times. The victim sustained scrapes on her left knee and redness on her right knee from falling.

After interviewing the victim, several police officers proceeded to the defendant’s home to locate him, however, they were told by one of the defendant’s daughters that her dad (defendant) was not at home.

Police officers visited the defendant’s house twice on the next day and they were provided with the same answer by one of the defendant’s daughters. Last month, the defendant was finally apprehended at his house and transported to the TPS for questioning.

After being Mirandized, the defendant said he understood and was willing to make a statement.

According to the defendant’s statement to investigators, he had consumed alcohol on the day of the incident, while he was helping other men fix his kitchen. He stated that he beat up his [step]daughter for disobeying his instructions not to bother his grandson anymore. He apologized to investigators for his actions.