Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 35-year-old man was arrested by police last month in relation to allegations of a sexual relationship with his 15-year-old niece for a period of over 3 months.

During his arrest, police discovered drugs in the defendant’s possession.

(To protect the identity of the victim in this case, Samoa News will not name parties involved in this matter)

The defendant made his initial appearance in District Court last month, with bail set at $35,000.

The government has filed two separate cases against the defendant.

In the first case, the defendant is charged with three counts of rape; three counts of 1st degree sexual abuse and 3 counts of incest, along with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

In the second case, the defendant is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, along with one count of 3rd degree assault involving domestic violence and one count of private peace disturbance (PPD) involving domestic violence, both class A misdemeanors.

The incident came to light when the defendant’s girlfriend reported to police that she was beaten up by her boyfriend, after confronting him about his alleged sexual relationship with his niece.

The woman said she was preparing dinner for her mother when her boyfriend, who is the father of her 2-year-old daughter approached her and requested for a chance to talk to her.

During their conversation, her boyfriend assaulted her by pulling her hair, pushed her to the wall and punched her in the face twice before telling her that he wanted to end their 4-year relationship because he’s tired of her family and they way they treat him. The woman stated that a family member of her boyfriend said he’s been having an affair with his 15-year-old niece since March of this year.

It’s alleged that that her boyfriend (defendant) would pick up the victim from Tafeta where the victim stays and take her to a place in Malaeimi to have sex and then take her back home.

The police spoke to the 15-year-old girl, who confirmed having a sexual relationship with the defendant.

The victim’s stepmother, told police she was not aware that her stepdaughter and the defendant were having sexual relations.

The defendant was apprehended at his friend’s house in Malaeimi last month and transported to the TPS for questioning where he was Mirandized, after being told of the issue — the allegations of his relationship with the 15-year-old girl, his niece.

He confirmed their relationship started in March of this year.

The defendant also told investigators that things had been getting worse between him and his girlfriend and he knew that it could never be repaired. He then decided to date this young girl because he loved her, and he wanted to be with her.

Before the defendant was taken into custody for questioning, police conducted a body search on the defendant. During a body search, police discovered a brown paper inside his right pants pocket, containing a glass pipe a white crystalline substance, along with two hand-rolled marijuana joints.

When asked about the drugs, the defendant admitted that the drugs belonged to him and that he had bought from a friend. He did not reveal the identity of the man from whom he bought the drugs, other than identifying his friend’s village — Taputimu.

The white crystalline substance tested positive for meth, while the green leafy substance tested positive for THC/ marijuana.