Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Police arrested a 46-year-old taxi driver from Tafeta last week, for the alleged sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl. Alefosio Solomona made his initial appearance in District Court last week. He is charged with first degree sexual abuse, a class D felony; and endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

Bond is set at $15,000 and a preliminary examination is this Friday. The court has denied a defense motion to reduce bond to $5,000.

If he is able to post bond, among other conditions, Solomona is not to make any direct or indirect contact with the victim, and he is not to leave or attempt to leave the territory while his case is pending.

THE CASE

The matter was reported to authorities by the victim’s aunty on Tuesday, Jan. 24th. Police who responded spoke to the caller, and the alleged victim and her mother. According to the government, Solomona is a friend of the victim’s parents, and they are neighbors.

Solomona was not home when police arrived in the area. A couple that lives next door to Solomona told investigators that Solomona took off when he saw police units heading towards the victim’s home.

According to the victim’s statement to police, one of her neighbors — a female — asked her to go to Solomona’s house and bum some cigarettes from him. When she got to Solomona’s house, he met her at the door and asked her to come in and watch a movie while he goes to the store to buy cigarettes for him and their female neighbor.

The victim said she entered the house, and Solomona escorted her to the living room, and told her sit and watch whatever she wanted. Solomona then left for the store and when he returned, he had two packs of cigarettes, as well as snacks for the victim.

The victim said Solomona came in and sat on the couch next her. He then asked her to lock the front door, because he didn’t want the neighborhood kids to come by begging for snacks. The victim said she did as she was told.

Afterwards, according to the victim, she returned to the couch and that’s when Solomona gave her a pack of cigarettes for their neighbor, and $5 for the victim. Solomona then asked the victim to move closer to him.

The victim said she became uncomfortable and told Solomona that she was going to leave.

According to the government, that’s when Solomona grabbed the girl by the arm and started touching/ rubbing her body — over her clothing — starting from her private parts and making his way up towards her breast.

The girl said she tried to escape because she could smell alcohol and she also saw empty beer bottles in the trash bin. She said she knew something was weird with Solomona, by the way he was acting.

The victim told police she pushed Solomona away, causing him to fall off the couch, but he was able to stand up and continue touching her in a sexual manner. In the affidavit, police note that the victim was confident throughout the interview process. But when she mentioned the inappropriate touching, she began to tear up.

When questioned by police, the victim’s mother said she was aware of the situation, but her daughter waited until her friend came home to inform her about what happened. According to the mother, this is not the first incident in her family involving Solomona. She said there was an incident that occurred a two months prior — involving Solomona and her daughter — but it was not reported because both parties had settled it.

When asked about the alleged first incident, the victim’s mother didn’t specify the date but said it happened at night. She said she heard her daughter screaming from the back of the house for help. And when she went to check, she saw Solomona holding her daughter’s left hand, trying to pull her into his vehicle. She said Solomona only released her daughter’s hand when she yelled at him to stop.

When questioned by police, Solomona said he didn’t see the 16-year-old victim at his home all weekend, adding that their female neighbor never sent anyone over to bum cigarettes from him. He said the only people who came over to his house were the neighborhood kids who stopped by to borrow movies.

He said he drank the last of his leftover beer by noon on Sunday, and added that the reason why the victim’s family is making false accusations is because they want him off the land and out of the family.