A man accused of raping a 16-year old girl and now says he wants to follow his new calling of being a church minister has been sentenced by the High Court to serve 5 years in jail, despite the defense’s plea for leniency.

Antele’a Segi was charged last May with rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse first degree — all felonies. But under a plea agreement, which the court accepted this year, the defendant pled guilty to the sexual abuse charge, a class D felony punishable with up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

Segi appeared in court last Friday for sentencing, where the defendant made comments, which didn’t sit well with the court, as it appeared the defendant did not agree with the charges against him.

He apologized to the victim, her parents and her family. He also apologized to his wife, because of the charges lodged against him by the government.

Despite the charges brought against him, as well as a lot of publicity as a result of the charges, Segi told the court that God sees the real truth of what happened. He didn’t elaborate further.

Segi has been held at the Territorial Correctional Facility for the last eleven months unable to post $20,000 bail; and during his pre-trial confinement, he said that is when he made the decision that he will be a church minister to carry out the work of the Lord in American Samoa.

He then pleaded with the court for his release from confinement in order for him to carry out his plans to be a church minister, as well as finding a job to support his wife and children.

Segi’s attorney, Public Defender Douglas Fiaui recommended that the defendant be given a probative sentence and for the 11 months pre trial confinement to be a part of any jail term.

Fiaui then pointed to the Probation Office pre sentence report, which states in part that the defendant had wanted to take his case to a jury, but he was counseled by the defense attorney to accept the government’s plea offer. The report also says that Fiaui strongly recommended to the defendant to take the plea offer.

Fiaui said he disagreed with this provision of the report, which appears to suggest that he didn’t do his job in protecting the right of his clients who is accused in the criminal justice system. He also says that he would never force a client to accept a plea or force them to plead guilty to a crime.

Fiaui requested the court to communicate with the Probation Office that it’s not proper for them to find out from their clients what they discussed with their defense attorneys but to focus their review on providing a pre sentence report for the court’s review.

In closing, Fiaui argued for the court to accept the defendant’s request to be released from jail in order for Segi to proceed with his plans for his future.

However, assistant attorney general Gerald Murphy argued for the court to sentence the defendant to the maximum term as outlined in the law — which is five years, because of the seriousness of his crime, and he recalled what was cited in the government’s case.

Court documents say that when the defendant was done having sex with the girl in the bushes, he heard the victim’s father nearby and he went and checked to see if it was the victim’s father, who was told by the defendant that the daughter was at a nearby bus stop. The defendant then returned to where the victim was — still in the bushes — and had sex with her a second time.

Acting Associate Justice Elvis P. Patea said that based on the defendant’s apology statement in court, Segi is not remorseful for his crime and therefore the 5-year jail term was appropriate.

Patea also ordered that the defendant register as a sex offender and have a HIV test.

In court documents, the defendant denied to police having sexual intercourse with the victim.