Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A married man accused of attempted sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl inside a bathroom has been convicted and is scheduled to appear in District Court on Oct. 28, 2018 for sentencing.

Sosaiete La’asaga, who was released on his own recognizance was charged with 2nd degree attempted sexual abuse and 3rd degree false imprisonment, both class A misdemeanors.

District Court Judge Fiti Sunia presided, while a six-member jury, five females and one male heard the case last week.

Prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Jason Mitchell, while Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson represented La’asaga.

According to the government’s case, the defendant’s family and the victim’s family live on the same land and they share one bathroom.

Both sides called witnesses. The government called the 14-year-old victim to the stand while the defense called the defendant and his wife to the stand.

GOVERNMENT WITNESS

According to the victim’s testimony, on the day of the incident, she went to take a shower. At that time, she was wearing a towel.

Suddenly, La’asaga came up to her inside the bathroom and approached her in a sexual manner and communicated to her in a sexual manner. La’asaga grabbed her hand and tried to hold her inside the bathroom. They struggled for a moment until other people heard them and came up to help. La’asaga then fled the scene.

DEFENSE’S WITNESSES

La’asaga told the jury that while he was sitting under the tree in front of his house drinking his beer, he saw the victim make her way to the bathroom. A few moments later, he went to the back of the house to use the bathroom too. As he was making his way back to the bathroom, the victim left the bathroom and made her way to her house.

La’asaga strongly denied the allegation that he was inside the bathroom with the victim, or that he grabbed the victim in a sexual manner.

La’asaga’s wife’s testimony echoed the defendant’s statement. She told the jury that La’asaga was never inside the bathroom with the victim.

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Mitchell told the jury that they should consider the victim’s statement carefully. In her statement, she stated that while she was inside the bathroom wearing a towel, the defendant approached her and touched her in a sexual manner. He also grabbed her and held her inside the bathroom.

They struggled for a moment and other people heard them and came to help.

Mitchell stated that the defense would argue that nobody saw what happened inside the bathroom because there were only two people present inside the bathroom.

“If you want to commit a crime, you don’t want anybody to see it. All you want is for you and the victim to be alone in a private place, and that was what happen in this case,” Mitchell told the jury.

Furthermore, the government stated that the defendant was drinking on the day of the incident. He saw the victim walk to the back of her house and he then followed her.

The defense attorney told jurors that his client was drinking under the tree in front of his house when he heard the victim call out his name. Before his client got to the bathroom, his wife and the victim’s brother was already there.

Anderson stated that nothing happened that day. The victim was never sexually abused by La’asaga, nor was she held inside the bathroom by his client.

He also reminded jurors that the government failed to present to them any physical evidence to support their case against his client.