Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 30-year-old man convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl some years back was arrested by police last month on the allegation that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl who had run away from home.

During his arrest, police found a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his left pants’ pocket.

When questioned by investigators, the defendant said it was the victim who contacted him asking if she can come to his place to spend the night with him.

Douglas Fiatau, a.k.a Doug Fiatau appeared in Court last month for his initial appearance.

He is charged with one count of rape, a class B felony, punishable by imprisonment from 5-15 years; one count of sodomy and one count of 1st-degree sexual abuse, both class D felony, along with one count of unlawful possession methamphetamine (meth), a felony.

Bail is set at $25,000.

If he posts bond, the court ordered Fiatau not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim or her family in any way. He’s not allowed to call her on her cell phone, nor contact her on Facebook.

The defense attorney asked the court to reduce his client’s bail to $10,000 saying that his client is the only person who works to provide for his family.

The prosecutor strongly opposed the defense’s motion saying that the defendant is on probation for a similar offense and it appears that he has a problem with young girls.

The court denied the defense’s motion.

THE CASE

On Mar. 8, 2022, a woman walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to file a report that her 16-year-old daughter went missing from home on the previous day, Mar. 7 at an unknown time.

The woman was later identified as the victim’s mother. She told officers that she and her daughter had argued over a charger for a phone and she decided to leave the house to cool off and when she returned home around 5p.m she saw a note from her daughter stating she left to go to her friend’s house in Ottoville.

The woman said she called her daughter’s friend and the friend told her that her daughter did not call her nor visit her.

The woman said she had been on the road since —non-stop — looking for her daughter and when she didn’t find her, the mother went to the TPS to report the matter.

On the following morning, officers from the graveyard shift notified investigators that the victim’s mother had contacted the TPS around 10:39p.m to report that she (victim’s mother) posted on Facebook stating that if anyone has any information about her daughter’s whereabouts to let her know and a girl from Iliili contacted her and stated that she had information about her missing daughter.

Investigators contacted the girl from Ottoville on Tuesday morning regarding the missing girl and she verbally told investigators that the missing girl was staying at a house with a guy named Doug Fiatau, the defendant in this matter.

Investigators visited a residence in Ottoville and observed two females standing on the side of the road. The two females were later identified as the missing girl (victim) and the lady who gave investigators information about the missing girl. The suspect was not at his residence when investigators arrived.

The girl and the reporter were transported to the TPS for further investigation. Her mother was also notified about the situation and she later arrived at the TPS for interview.

As the victim and the reporter were transported to the TPS for further investigation, another team of police officers headed back to the suspect’s residence in an effort to locate him. One hour later, officers spotted the suspect at the area and he was immediately apprehended and placed inside the police unit.

Before the suspect was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down for weapons and illegal substance. During a body searched, cops found a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his pants’ left pocket.

The victim and the defendant were separately interviewed by investigators regarding this matter.

The victim told investigators that on the afternoon of Mar. 7, she had argued with her mother and she decided to leave their home but she left a note stating she was going to her friend’s house in Ottoville to hang out with her.

When she arrived at the bus stop, her boyfriend (defendant) called her and she explained to him what had happened so he (defendant) asked her to come over to his house in Ottoville to spend the night with him.

The victim agreed and then caught a taxi and went to Ottoville to meet her boyfriend. Once she arrived, her boyfriend took her inside his room and that’s when they had sex.

Fiatau was Mirandized and he acknowledged his understanding by signing the form to waive his rights and indicated he was willing to make a statement about what happened.

According to the defendant’s statement to investigators, his girlfriend told him about her situation when she called him and that’s when he told her to come over to his house to spend the night with him. When his girlfriend arrived, they went in his bedroom and they had sex.

Fiatau told investigators that he did not force the victim to come to his place, it was her own decision after they talked on the phone when she told him that she wanted to come over to see him.

According to Fiatau, he did not force the victim to have sex with him, it was the victim’s plan to leave home so that she could come and spend the night with him. He further stated to investigators that he spoke with the victim regarding her age however, she told him that there was nothing to worry about and she would make sure he would not get in trouble.

When asked about the glass pipe containing white crystalline substance found in his possession, Fiatau explained he found the glass pipe on the road while he was running away from police. He picked up the glass pipe and placed it inside his pocket without knowing that illegal drugs were inside.

The white crystalline substance was later tested and yielded a positive result for meth.

BACKGROUND

Fiatau was sentenced by the High Court in May 2014 to serve 28 months in prison, as a condition of a 7-year probation after being convicted for attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl in September of 2013.

Fiatau admits that he unlawfully entered a home during nighttime for the purpose of committing a crime. While he was inside the home, he went straight to the room where the 15-year-old was sleeping for the purpose of having sex with her.

The victim screamed when she felt somebody touching her body, and this alerted her family and caused the defendant to flee the scene, running for his life as he was being chased by the victim’s family members.

When given the chance to address the court, Fiatau apologized to the court for his action and promised that he would never do this type of action again but will use the remainder of his life to do good things for his family, his church and his village.

He told the court that it was the girl who told him to come over to her house at night to spend a moment together. He further stated to the court that it had been a month since the girl had told him to come over to her house and he did not want to because he knew that the girl was a minor and he would get into trouble if something happen between them.