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Man chaged with sodomy and sex abuse of 14-year old girl

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man is now in custody after he was arrested last week on the allegation that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl.

Joseph Leota made his initial appearance before District Court Judge Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde last week.

He is charged with one count of sodomy, a class B felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than fifteen years; and one count of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $10,000.

If he post bonds, Leota is ordered not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim or her family. The court made it clear to the defendant that the no contact order included phone calls, emails and Facebook messages.

During his initial appearance, Leota waived his rights to a preliminary examination (PX).

Leota appeared in High Court last week where he entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. His pretrial conference is scheduled in December of this year.

THE CASE

The investigation disclosed that Joseph Leota allegedly sexually abused a 14-year-old girl at numerous times. According to the government, Leota and the victim have been in a relationship since March of 2021. They met via Facebook messenger.

On May 30th, when the victim’s mother learned that her daughter was dating Leota, she went to Tafuna Police Substation with her daughter because she was frightened of the repercussions and wanted to end the relationship immediately.

During the victim’s interview with investigators, she stated that she had been with Leota three times and that each time they were at the Fagatogo market place. While they were together, Leota touched her inappropriately.

The victim further stated that they used to hang out just outside of the school’s grounds on occasion. Leota would come up at her school practically every day at around 8:30a.m to deliver food for her sister, who is a teacher there, and he would stop by her classroom to see her. According to the victim, Leota would ask her to accompany him to Fagatogo every time he came by the school.