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Plea agreement reached in rape case

American Samoa High Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 21-year-old man from Nuuuli accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl multiple times has entered into a plea agreement with the government. He appeared in court last week for his Change of Plea hearing.

The defendant, who has remained in custody unable to post z surety bond of $10,000 was charged with two counts of rape and two counts of sodomy, both class B felonies, punishable by imprisonment for a term not less than 5 years nor more than 15 years; 4 counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a term of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

However, in a plea agreement with the government, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of 1st degree of sexual abuse.

According to terms of the plea agreement, he admits that on April 18, 2020, he touched the private parts of a 16-year-old girl for the purpose of sexual gratification.

Both parties recommended to the court to place the defendant on probation for a period of five years under the conditions that he has to register as a sex offender and to make sure he undergoes an HIV test first, before he departs the territory and remains outside of its borders.

The defendant is scheduled to appear in court in August for sentencing.

(His name is in court documents, however Samoa News has chosen not to publicize it due to the 16-year old victim.)