Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 45-year-old father of 4 children who is accused of the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl told the court in a plea agreement he is guilty.

Tipasa Molesi, who is out on a $10,000 surety bond appeared in court last week for a Change of Plea hearing. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson, while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Christy Dunn.

Molesi was initially charged with two counts of 1st degree sexual abuse, one count of deviate sexual assault, and felonious restraint, all felonies, along with a class A misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.

However under a plea agreement with the government, which was accepted by the court, Molesi pled guilty to one count of 1st degree sexual abuse. In his guilty plea, Molesi admits that on Mar. 21, 2018 in American Samoa, he touched the breast of a 15-year-old girl in a sexual manner.

According to the terms of the plea agreement, the incident was reported to police by the mother of the victim, who stated in her written statement to investigators that Molesi, who is their neighbor and her husband’s friend, always came to their home to watch television with her husband almost every night.

On the night of the incident, the victim’s parents were not at home, they were at a church meeting, leaving the victim and her young siblings in the house. Around 10 p.m, Molesi went to the victim’s home to watch television, and found the victim sleeping on a couch in the living room alone.

It was at that time Molesi committed the crime by touching the victim’s breast in a sexual manner. The victim woke up after she felt somebody touching her body and found Molesi sitting beside her. She screamed and told Molesi to get outside. Molesi, who was intoxicated stood up peacefully and left the house.

The victim told her parents everything when they came home, and it was at that time of the night the mother filed her complaint at the Fagatogo Central Police station.

Molesi is scheduled to appear in court on Dec, 13, 2019 for sentencing.