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Man from Samoa first sex offender ordered to register with SORNA

Tele’a Vaifale of LeAuva’a, Samoa who admitted to sexual assault and sexual abuse against a 14-year-old girl, was sentenced to serve eight years in jail, and is the first man ordered to register with the territory’s newly established Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

 

Vaifale was initially charged with rape, sodomy, sexual assault, sexual abuse first degree, false imprisonment and third degree assault. For his plea agreement hearing, the defendant pled guilty to sexual assault, sexual abuse first degree and false imprisonment prior to coming to court, and in return the government moved to dismiss the remaining charges.

 

For the sexual assault, defendant was sentenced to seven years and for the sexual abuse, he was sentenced to five years, with sentences to be served concurrently (at the same time).

 

 The defendant was also ordered to serve one year for false imprisonment, in addition to the seven years. He was ordered to register as a sex offender with the Warden and also register with the SORNA that is administered by the AG’s office.

 

SORNA closes potential gaps and loopholes that existed under prior laws and has generally strengthened the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification program since 2009.

 

All states and territories receiving the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) award have been required to substantially implement the minimum standards of SORNA, including American Samoa. The Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA) requested and received waivers from the JAG award requirements for 2011 and 2012 and the penalty for failure to comply with the federal guidelines was 10% of the JAG award every year ASG was not in compliance, amounting to $47,000 per annum for American Samoa.

 

 In addition to the financial implications of failing to introduce the minimum standards of SORNA, “more importantly is the profound responsibility to keep our children safe” and keep the public aware of sex offenders residing in the community.”

 

Due to the nature and scope of the amendments that would be necessary to bring existing law into compliance with the SORNA guidelines, it was determined that the best course of action was to repeal the existing law and introduce a new law in its entirety.

 

The Attorney General’s office maintains and operates the SORNA, along with the public sex offender registry website — to be established.

 

Deputy Attorney General Mitzie Jessop, who was very vocal in her support of the bill when it was introduced for the second time in the Fono said “as a convicted sex offender, you give up your right to anonymity. Society has a strong obligation to protect our children from sexual predators.”

 

Jessop told Samoa News that the argument against registering sex offenders has always been about the privacy of those people. “However, when a person is convicted of a crime, you give up certain rights. As a convicted sex offender, you give up your right to anonymity.”

 

She said, “We also do not want to be a safe haven for the convicted sex offenders of the world to come here because we do not have a sex offender registry. The more tools we have to help protect our children, the better.”