Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man previously convicted of assault and sentenced by the High Court to 5 years probation is in custody again after being accused of abusing his 5-year-old niece by slapping her in the face and kicking her in the back.

When arrested by police at this home in Fogagogo, cops found illegal drugs in his possession.

The man — Tapualii Metulino made his initial appearance in District Court last month.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 nor more than 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000 or both, along with one count of abuse of a child involving domestic violence, a class D felony, punishable by term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $10,000.

THE CASE

On May 10, 2022 at about 5:36 p.m, TPS received a phone call from a woman reporting her brother (defendant) allegedly assaulted her 5-year-old daughter. Several police officers responded to the call and met with the reporter in front of her residence in Fogagogo.

The woman told officers that her brother (defendant) was inside the house. The defendant walked out of the house and officers immediately apprehended him and placed him inside a police unit and he has taken to the TPS for further investigation.

Officers observed abrasions and bruises on the left facial area of the victim. Both the victim and her mother were also transported to the TPS for questioning regarding the matter.

EMS was contacted regarding the victim’s injuries.

VICTIM’S FAMILY STATEMENTS

The victim’s mother and other family members were interviewed by investigators regarding the incident. They allege the incident happened while the victim’s mother was at work and it was her son who called her saying that she had to come home to take the victim to the hospital because Uncle Lino (defendant) slapped and kicked her (victim) in the face and back causing injuries to the victim’s facial area and body.

Her son also told her that when he got inside the house, he saw his sister (victim) lying on the floor motionless with her face turned blue.

The brother immediately picked up his sister and shook her body for few seconds before he saw her start crying and she moved again. That’s when he called his mother to come home for help.

When the mother arrived home, she saw her daughter (victim) crying and she observed swollen and red marks on her daughter’s facial area, that’s when she contacted police in regards to the matter.

She further stated to investigators that her brother (defendant) abuses her kids often and she had warned him several times.

The victim’s brother was interviewed in the presence of his mother. He told investigators that he witnessed the defendant slap his little sister (victim) three times in the face and also kick her in the face.

He was scared so he called his mother to take his sister to the hospital. He further stated to police that when he called his mother, his uncle (defendant) yelled at him and instructed him to turn off the phone before he came and kicked him out of the house.

Out of fear for his safety, the victim’s brother quickly turned off his cell phone and walked outside of the house while carrying his sister (victim) with him to wait for his mother to arrive.

DEFENDANT’S STATEMENT

Metulino was Mirandized upon arrival at the TPS and gave a written and verbal statement.

The defendant admitted to physically abusing his niece, while his nephew was watching, claiming he thinks he over reacted to his niece giving his sister (the mother) a hard time and as a result, he disciplined his niece while he was angry.

He also admitted to police that this is not the first time he has disciplined his sister’s children. He said he felt sorry for his actions and apologized for his mistake.

Prior to his being taken to TPS, Metulino was patted down for weapons or contraband and during the body search, cops found a black pouch inside the defendant’s left pocket of his pants.

Cops asked the defendant what is inside the black pouch and the defendant replied, “it’s my person stuff.” The pouch was found to contain illegal drugs.

The defendant was booked and later taken to the Tafuna Correctional Facility (TCF) to await the next sitting of court.