Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man convicted in December 2021, by a six-member jury — all women —of sexually assaulting his biological 16-year-old daughter has been sentenced by the High Court to serve 60 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) as a condition of his 15-year probation.

Despite a request from the prosecutor to sentence the defendant to the maximum sentence allowed by law of 25 years, the Court accepted the defense’s submission that the defendant is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

(In the interest of protecting the minor victim, Samoa News is withholding the names of all parties involved.)

The defendant, who has been in custody since his arrest in March of last year, appeared before Associate Justice Elvis P. Patea for sentencing. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender, Ryan Anderson while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General, Kristine Soule’.

The jury convicted the defendant on one count of sodomy, a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years nor more than 15 years; one count of 1st degree sexual abuse and one count of incest, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, but not less than $150 pursuant to 47.0402 or both such fine and imprisonment.

When given the chance to address the court, defense attorney Anderson asked the court consider three factors about his client:

First, his client is a changed man and he’s willing to provide care for his elderly mother;

Second, his client has no prior criminal record throughout his whole life until this incident; and,

Third, his client has maintained his innocence despite his conviction by a jury.

Anderson told the court that his client is a suitable candidate for a probated sentence.

Patea asked Anderson about his client’s immigration status. According to the court, the defendant’s immigration ID expired in 2020.

Anderson said his client’s last sponsor is trying to work together with the Immigration office to renew the defendant’s status.

Prosecutor Soule’ said to look at the circumstances of what happened and the seriousness of the defendant’s actions. Soule’ told the court that the maximum sentence for all 3 counts the defendant has been convicted of is 25 years. She then asked the court to sentence the defendant to the maximum sentence of 25 years as allowed by statute.

She further stated that the defendant’s action will have a negative impact on the victim for the rest of her life.

After reviewing the Pre Sentence Report containing the defendant’s statement, along with submissions by both parties, the court sentenced the defendant to 15 years behind bars for the count of sodomy; 5 years for the count of 1st degree sexual abuse, and 5 years for the count of incest.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Execution of the sentence was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for a period of 15 years subject to several conditions.

The defendant is ordered to serve a period of detention of 60 months at the TCF, He will be credited for the 321 days he already served during his pretrial detention.

After serving 15 months behind bars, the defendant shall depart the territory and remain outside of its border for the remaining period of his probation of 15 years.

According to the court, the defendant has served over 11 months during his pretrial detention. He has 4- 1/2 months to serve before he departs the territory. The defendant is ordered to register as a sex offender and submit himself for HIV testing.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay a fine of $1,000 and the fine must be paid by the defendant or his sponsor before the defendant departs the territory.

 Chief Associate Judge Mamea Sala Jr and Associate Judge Tunupopo Alalafaga Tunupopo assisted Patea on the bench.

BACKGROUND

The government alleged that on Mar. 6, 2021 around 6:55p.m, a woman walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) with her niece (later identified as the victim in this case) to file a report against the defendant. It was revealed through the victim’s statement to investigators that she was allegedly raped by her biological father (the defendant) while she was sleeping.

The victim stated to investigators that on Mar. 4th, 2021, about midnight, her biological father came into her room while she was lying on her bed not wearing any clothes. Her father allegedly touched her body inappropriately.

The victim told investigators that she tried to stand up and run away from her father because she was scared, however, her father grabbed her head and pulled her close to him while standing inside her room naked. She tried hard to push him away but he was too strong — at the same time he tried to rape her.

As the victim and the defendant struggled, the victim was able to find a pencil lying on the floor. She grabbed the pencil and stabbed her father in the neck, but it didn’t leave a mark she stated.

The victim was able to free herself from her father and quickly ran to her grandmother for help, where she explained to her what had happened and her grandmother told the victim that it’s okay it was not a big deal.

The victim further stated that when she told her mother, her mother told her that she had to wait until she (her mother) talks to the defendant regarding the incident.

The victim and her mother went to the defendant’s home to talk to him and the defendant wasn’t home, so the victim was dropped off at her aunt’s home to stay there for the night.

The victim told investigators that later that night, her mother called her and told her that she asked her father (defendant) if it was true and the defendant told her mother that he doesn’t know anything and nothing happened.

On the following morning, the victim told her aunt that the reason why she wanted to come and stay with her was because her father raped her.

Investigators interviewed the victim’s aunt regarding the incident, and according to the victim’s aunt, on Mar. 5, 2021, her niece (the victim) and her brother sat her down and told her the reason why the victim wanted to come stay with her at her residence.

The aunt stated that the victim was scared to go back home due to what her biological father allegedly did to her. After hearing the victim and her brother’s story, the aunt told the victim that she could stay with her as long as she wants.

The aunt also told investigators that the victim’s mother contacted her to bring her daughter (victim) back and the victim was screaming, crying out, telling her that she is scared to go back home. The aunt also stated that the victim told her that she had already approached her mother and the mother didn’t seem to believe her (victim). The aunt told investigators that she feared for the victim’s safety as well as for her younger siblings.

The victim’s younger brother was also interviewed by investigators. He stated that on Mar. 4, 2021 during the tsunami warning, he was with his sister when he told her to go catch a bus and go home and she told him that she didn’t want to go back home. The victim’s brother stated that he asked his sister why she doesn’t want to go home and she told him that her biological father raped her while she was sleeping.

According to information received by investigators, the victim and her brother are half brother and sister. They have the same mother but different fathers. The brother was disappointed so he went and took his sister with him to his aunt’s residence where he’s staying.

On Mar. 6, 2021, the defendant was Mirandized and said he was willing to answer questions and make a statement to investigators.

According to the defendant’s statement, he honestly did not do anything wrong to his daughter. Furthermore, he stated he does not know where his daughter comes up with these kinds of stories.

Social workers conducted an assessment with the victim, her brother, her mother, the defendant and her aunt and later gave their findings to investigators regarding this case.

As per the assessment by social workers, the victim was placed at the shelter until further notice from the court. The victim’s mother and siblings were placed at the aunt’s residence.