Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man convicted of sexually assaulting his wife’s niece was sentenced by the High Court last week to serve 7 years behind bars. A straight sentence.

Ete Aumua, who has been in custody since his arrest last year, unable to post a $10,000 surety bond appeared before Associate Justice Fiti Sunia last week for sentencing.

He was charged with one count of sodomy, a class B felony, punishable by imprisonment between 5-15 years; and one count of first degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

However, under a plea bargain with the government, accepted by the court in November of last year, Aumua pled guilty to the amended charged of 1st-degree sexual assault, a class C felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 7 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

With his guilty plea, Aumua admits that somewhere between June and July of 2019, he sexually assaulted his wife’s niece.

When given the chance to speak, the defendant apologized to the court for his action and begged for a second chance to return home to care for his family and start his life again. He stated that he’s truly remorseful for what he did and he promised that it would never happen again.

Attorneys for both sides asked the court for a light sentence to give the defendant a second chance in life. Defense attorney, Ryan Anderson told the court that his client is truly remorseful for what he did and he told him that he wanted to go back home to care for his family.

The prosecutor echoed the defense attorney’s submission and asked the court for a probated sentence.

The court disagreed. The court believed that a maximum sentence was suitable in this case, given the fact the defendant is a married man and the victim is a minor.

Aumua was then sentenced to 7 years at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF). A straight sentence.

BACKGROUND

The government claims that on the morning of June 10, the victim, 16, walked into the DPS Tafuna Substation to report that her aunt’s boyfriend, Ete Aumua, sexually touched her at their Iliili home.

The victim told police that on the night of June 9, 2019 she heard her aunt and Aumua having a verbal argument regarding their relationship. The victim said she was sleeping in her room but was awakened by the argument.

A few moments later, the victim said, her aunt entered her room to look for her shoes. Thereafter, her aunt left the house, leaving her home alone with Aumua, who sat in the living room, while she went back to sleep.

The victim told police that Aumua started calling her name, asking her to come hang out with him in the living room, but she didn’t respond; instead, she continued to lie in bed.

The girl said she was surprised when she woke up and saw Aumua laying on her hand, and touching her inappropriately.

The victim said she sat up and tried to push Aumua away and at the same time, she screamed; however, Aumua was too strong and didn’t stop.

The victim said she was finally able to push Aumua away and walked out of the room into the living room. Aumua allegedly followed the victim and tried to stop her from leaving the house. He tried to grab her hand and begged her to go back into the room.

The victim told police that she exited the house to go look for her aunt, but Aumua followed her. The victim was able to locate her aunt, who was sitting outside of the house, in front of their family’s sewing shop.

The victim said she asked her aunt why she had left her alone in the house with her boyfriend, before telling her what happened.

The girl said that while she was talking to her aunt, Aumua arrived and tried to change the subject. The victim’s aunt confronted Aumua about what her niece had told her, and Aumua denied it all.

The victim also confronted Aumua about what he did to her and Aumua continued to deny any wrongdoing.

The very next morning, the victim went to police to file her complaint.