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Man and woman charged with sexually assaulting girl

A man and a woman have been arrested in separate cases on allegations that each defendant is accused of sexually assaulting the same girl on the same night, and on separate occasions. Nicholas Kuka and a 22-year old woman, each held on bail of $20,000 made their initial appearances in the District Court this week. This case is prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Russell Smith, and the defendants are each represented by the Public Defender’s office.

 

In the interest of protecting the victim’s identity, Samoa News will not name the woman defendant in this case, as she is closely related to the victim and lived in the same house with the victim when the alleged incident occurred.

 

Kuka, 21 years old, is facing charges of rape, sodomy, sexual assault, deviate sexual assault and sexual abuse, first degree. The rape and sodomy charges are each class B felonies, punishable from five to 15 years in jail and the sexual assault and deviate sexual assault are each class C felonies which carry jail terms of up to seven years each. The sexual abuse first degree charge is a class D felony punishable with up to five years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 or both. 

 

According to the government’s case, a woman reported to the police that her 16-year old daughter had run away from home. However the police investigation uncovered that the woman is not the victim’s biological mother, rather her aunt, and the girl was raised with the woman’s biological children.

 

It's alleged that the victim told the police that twice Kuka had sex with her. Police spoke to Kuka, who admitted having sex with the girl. It's alleged that the sex occurred in Malaeloa, and according to the government’s case, the two incidents are alleged to have occurred on the night of April 22 and April 23, 2015.

 

The woman defendant, who is a 22 years old, is facing charges of sodomy, deviate sexual assault and sexual abuse. The sodomy count is a class B felony punishable from five to 15 years in jail, while the deviate charge is a class C felony and it carries a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both while the sexual abuse count is a class D felony, punishable up to five years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000 or both. 

 

Court filings say that police spoke to the victim who stated that while at home sleeping she felt her sister (her cousin) touching her inappropriately on her private parts. This is alleged to have occurred on April 22, 2015.