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Man out on probation in drug case arrested again, this time for alleged drugs and rape

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man with a prior drug conviction was arrested by police last month on the allegation that he raped a 15-year-old girl who had run away from her home in Nu’uuli.

Wilson Talosaga made his initial appearance in court last month.

He is charged with 3 counts of rape and 3 counts of sodomy, both class B felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than fifteen years; along with unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), an unclassified felony.

Bail is set at $30,000.

THE CASE

On Apr. 11, 2021, a couple walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting police assistance regarding their 15-year-old daughter who had run away from home. Additional, she had not attended school for two days. Furthermore, the couple told police that this is not the first time their daughter has run away from home and school.

The couple provided additional information to police in an effort to assist officers with their investigation on how to locate their missing daughter. According to the information provided to police, a woman from Tafuna contacted them and said that their daughter was seen with a man, later identified as Wilson Talosaga, the defendant in this case, standing with the victim in front of the Veterans Stadium in Tafuna around 5p.m on Apr. 10th.

On the following morning, the couple went back to the TPS and informed a police sergeant that they have found their daughter, but they were concerned that their daughter might have a physical relationship with Talosaga, who they found out is 28 years old and had been in contact with their daughter almost every day via Facebook Messenger.

Investigators requested permission from the victim’s parents to interview her (victim) without their presence. The couple agreed.

According to the victim, it was on Feb. 10th, 2021 that she had her first sexual encounter with her boyfriend (defendant). It happened at Talosaga’s residence in Taputimu. It was early in the morning and she had gone over to Talosaga’s home where they hung out and had consensual sex. The victim could not recall the other dates and times they had sexual intercourse — which was about four or more times a week.

The victim also told investigators that there were times where Talosaga gave her money to buy food and clothes after they had sex. It was in April of this year when Talosaga started calling her to come over to his house to hang out, she said.  And, on Apr. 10th, she skipped school and went straight to Talosaga’s house where they spent two nights at his house in Taputimu.

After interviewing the victim, investigators went out to Talosaga’s house to speak with him, however, he was not there. Talosaga was apprehended on the following morning when police went back to his house and found him sleeping in his room.

Before Tallosaga was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down and officers discovered a glass pipe containing white crystalline substance in one of his pockets.

Before Talsoaga was interviewed, he was Mirandized, where he stated that he understood his rights and wished to make a statement about the incident.

When asked about the glass pipe discovered in his possession, Talsoaga admitted that the glass pipe containing meth belonged to him. He stated that he bought the glass pipe from a man in Iliili for $25 and it’s for his own personal use.

When questioned about the alleged sexual relationship with the victim, Talosaga broke into tears and immediately confessed to the relationship. He admitted that he had a sexual relationship with the victim, which started in February of this year and they continued their relationship for three months.

Talosaga stated to investigators that it was the victim who first came to his house and they hung out for the whole day before the victim went back home. On that day, they had consensual sexual intercourse twice.

Their sexual irelationship continued until Apr. 11th, when the victim told him that her parents and police are looking for them.

BACKGROUND

Talosaga was convicted of unlawful possession of meth and was sentenced to serve 20 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) as a condition of his 5-year probation. He pled guilty to the amended charge of unlawful possession of meth. The remaining more serious charge was dismissed as a condition of the plea agreement between parties.

The charges against Talosaga stemed from an incident where he had been considered by police as a Person of Interest (POI) for many months in 2014, under the suspicion that he was involved in the drug business.

The government claimed that on Apr. 30, 2014, patrolling police officers in the Nu’uuli area conducted a traffic stop on a red pickup truck for a traffic violation. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Talosaga, the defendant in this matter. Talosaga, along with his wife and children were inside the vehicle when police pulled it over.

Officers approached the driver of the vehicle and informed Talosaga for the reason of the stop and asked him for his driver’s license. He gave police his driver’s license, which had expired two years ago.

While traffic officers were speaking to Talosaga, the DPS Vice and Narcotics/K9 Unit arrived at the scene. The K9 sniffing dog conducted a search around the vehicle for illegal drugs, and according to the government, the dog showed interest in the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Asked if they could search his vehicle, Talosaga said no, to which he was then informed that his vehicle would be impounded due to not having a a valid driver’s license and the traffic violation, and he was to be transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.

Talosaga was handcuffed and placed ins the police unit and transported to the TPS. It was while police were removing the handcuffs from Talosaga that one of the officers observed Talosaga holding something in his hand; and when he opened his hand, police observed two cut-up straws containing white crystalline substance.

The white crystalline substance was tested and the results were positive for meth.

Police conducted a body search on Talosaga but nothing was found. An inventory search was also conducted on the vehicle and again, nothing was found.

When asked about the two cut-up straws, Talosaga admitted to police that they belonged to him.