Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On October 18, 2024, the victim and her aunt walked into to the Tafuna Police Substation to report an alleged rape of a 16-year-old minor by her uncle. The suspect was later arrested and charged with:

Count 1 & 4: Rape, a class B felony punishable by imprison-ment exceeding five years but less than fifteen years, and a fine of not less than $150.00; Count 2, 5, 7, 10, & 12: Assault in the Third Degree ( As a C Misd.) (DV), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days, a fine of not more than $300.00 but not less than $150.00, or both; and,

Count 3, 6, 8, 9, & 11: Sodomy (DV), a class B felony punishable by imprisonment exceeding five years but less than fifteen years, and a fine of not less than $150.00. The defendant’s bail was set at $500,000.00. (Samoa News has withheld the names of those involved to protect the identity of the victim who is also a minor.) According to the affidavit, on October 18th, at about 8:45 p.m., two individuals (one of them was the victim) walked in to TPS to report that the victim, a 16-year-old minor had been allegedly raped by her aunt’s husband (suspect). The suspect is married to the victim’s maternal aunt and he also sponsors the victim. Both victim and defendant are members of the same household.

Police officers interviewed the victim where she stated that she was sexually assaulted by her uncle at about 4:00 a.m. at their residence on October 18, 2024. The victim explained that she was asleep when she felt being forcefully kissed on her lips while being inappropri-ately touched. She was able to push the suspect off of her, at which time the suspect grabbed a change of clothes and left the house.

When the victim was asked if this was the first occurrence, the victim stated that it was not. She said that the first inci-dent happened in March 2023, and recalled about six separate incidents when the suspect had gone into her room to engage in sexual activities and in two of the incidents she was raped. She described several of the incidents which occurred since March 2023:

On March 31, 2023, her uncle entered the room she was sleeping in and forcefully kissed her on the lips and raped her. The victim explained that she kept trying to push him off and told him to get away and when she finally was able to get away from him, she left the room. On or about September 17, 2023, her uncle entered the room where she was sleeping in and kissed her on the lips and raped her again.

On or around October 17, 2023, her uncle kissed her on the lips and performed sexual acts on her. She stated that there were other nights he entered the room while she was asleep but could not remember the dates.

In 2024, she said on or around May 24th, her uncle again entered her room and per-formed sexual acts on her. She asked him why he was doing this to her to which the suspect replied back that “he loves her”.

Around June 24, 2024, the uncle entered her room and again performed sexual acts on her. Once he did that, she woke up and told him to get away from her.

On September 18, 2024, she informed her aunt of what the suspect had done to her. Angered by the news, the aunt went to her husband (suspect) and slapped him. She then told her husband that if anything were to happen again that he would get what was coming to him.

The victim then recalled that on Monday, October 14, 2024, the suspect entered her room again while she was sleeping and kissed her on the lips. After the October 2024 incident, the victim decided that she would leave her residence.

At around 9:57 p.m., Social Services was contacted. They arrived at the TPS at about 11:30 p.m. to conduct an assessment on the victim who was then placed under their custody.

At about 11:50 p.m., police officers brought the suspect from his residence where he was Mirandized before interrogation. After hours of interrogation, the suspect finally confessed to all the incidents in which he kissed the victim on the lips and performed sexual acts on her.

The suspect was booked and confined at the Tafuna Cor-rectional facility for 48 hours awaiting the next available sitting of the District Court. The defendant is identified as a 52-year-old U.S National.

However, he continued to deny having sexual intercourse with the victim and claimed that he was unable to perform in bed. The suspect also claimed that the victim initiated some of the sexual acts when he couldn’t perform sexually.