Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 27-year-old man from Mapusagafou was arrested last month pursuant to an arrest warrant on the allegation that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl.

Samoa News has chosen not to name the defendant to protect the privacy of the girl.

The defendant who is known by two different last names made his initial appearance in Court last month.

He is charged with one count of child molesting, a class A felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years nor more than thirty years; one count of sodomy, a class B felony punishable by a term of imprisonment for five to fifteen years; and 3 counts of 1st- degree sexual abuse, a class D felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $45,000.

During his initial appearance his defense attorney said that the defendant wished to waive his rights to a preliminary examination, and the case was bound over to the High Court for further proceedings.

The defendant appeared in High Court last week for arraignment where he entered a not guilty plead to all the charges. Pretrial conference is set for Jan. 8, 2023.

Before the defendant entered a not guilty plea, the court wanted to know his real legal name because court records indicated that he had two different last names.

The court said the arrest warrant had one name on it but the defendant had signed the warrant with a different name.

When asked why he signed a different name on the arrest warrant if he knows what his legal name is, the defendant said that his dad’s brother holds the title and takes care of matters about his name.

The court ordered the defendant to appear during his next hearing and provide proof of his legal identity.

THE CASE

According to the investigation report prepared by a police officer, it was alleged that on Aug. 13, 2022, the defendant sexually abused a 14-year old girl behind the defendant’s house. The girl told investigators the defendant would meet her behind his house and there he allegedly undressed her and touched her inappropriately.

Detectives from the DPS CID interviewed witnesses regarding the alleged abuse.

A family member told investigators that she was present during the victim’s examination conducted by a local medical doctor. During the examination, the victim mentioned several incidents of the same nature that had happened prior to the current incident, which had brought her to see the doctor, but was afraid to say a word to anyone because the defendant had threatened her not to tell anyone.

The family member also told investigators that during the examination, the victim told the doctor that the defendant touched her inappropriately several times on different occasions.

Investigators also interviewed the doctor about the examination where she confirmed what the victim had told her, including the acts of sexual abuse the defendant perpetrated on the victim behind the defendant’s house.

On Oct. 4, the investigators questioned the 14-year-old and her mother.

The mother told investigators that the sexual abuse incidents happened between July and September of 2022 because those were the months that she had started dropping her kids off at her sister’s house in Pavaiai for babysitting.

The defendant lives next to the sister’s house.

The victim’s mother told investigators that the first incident happened at the defendant’s house and her daughter told her the defendant came to her and asked her to come outside so that they could talk.

The victim went outside and the defendant gave her $20 before they talked. During their conversation, the victim stated that the defendant touched her inappropriately. She told the defendant not to touch her but the defendant continued to touch her chest.

Two nights after the first incident, the defendant went to the victim’s house and asked her to come outside. He then walked the victim behind his house and again touched her inappropriately. The defendant told the victim not to say anything to anyone including her mother about the act, threatening to beat her if she did.

On Oct. 8, the victim repeated her story three times to investigators, along with a representative from the Victims Advocate, who spoke to the victim and her mother.

A family member told investigators that on Oct. 10, 2022 — around 6 p.m — the defendant came over to their house and apologized for what he did to the victim. During his apology, another relative became distraught and slapped him in the face.

 Several witnesses told investigators that they saw the defendant go to the victim’s aunt’s house and beg for forgiveness. They also saw another female slap him in the face while the defendant was kneeling down inside the house.

One witness said the defendant was shaking and crying while apologizing to them about what he had done to the victim. Two days after investigators interviewed the victim, her mother and the mother’s sister, the defendant left the house of the family where he was staying and went to stay with his uncle in Kokoland.

Last month, the defendant was apprehended at a store in Nu’uuli pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court and was transported to the Tafuna Police Substation for an interview. After the defendant was Mirandized, he refused to make a statement.