Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A stepfather accused of raping and sexually abusing his 16-year-old stepdaughter is now in custody after he was arrested last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court. Illegal drugs were discovered in the defendant’s possession during the arrest.

The government claims that the alleged sexual abuse incident began late last year while the victim’s mother was off-island for medical treatment. To protect the identity of the victim — a minor — Samoa News is withholding the defendant’s name.

(The defendant is not new to the court system. He has previous convictions including stealing, assaults and violating local drug laws.)

The defendant made his initial appearance in Court last month.

The government has filed two separate cases against him.

In the first case, the defendant is charged with three counts of rape; three counts of sodomy; and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, all felonies. He is also facing two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

In the second case, the defendant is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), a felony.

Bond is set at $50,000.

THE ALLEGATION

It was the victim’s grandmother who reported the alleged incident to police after she learned about it and that it involved her son-in-law — which resulted in the arrest of the defendant in this matter.

Investigators interviewed several members of the victim’s family including the victim, her aunts, cousins, neighbor and grandmother. The victim’s mother was off-island during the time of the alleged incident, according to the government’s case.

Investigators first interviewed one of the victim’s aunts regarding the allegation. According to the aunt’s statement to the investigator, the matter was reported to her by her two daughters (victim’s cousins) who stated to her that they found the suspect standing naked inside the victim’s bedroom on the night of Thanksgiving 2020.

The victim’s aunt questioned the suspect regarding the alleged incident, but the suspect strongly denied the accusation.

However, according to the aunt’s statement, after she received the same report from her daughters again, that’s when she decided to approach her mother (victim’s grandmother) about the situation.

When questioned by investigators, the victim’s cousins confirmed the incident and that it took place around 11:00p.m on the night of Thanksgiving, while the family was all gathered at the guest house for the Thanksgiving dinner.

The victim’s cousins told investigators that the suspect never said anything to them. He just put on his ie-lavalava and t-shirt and then left the room. They also smelled a strong odor of alcohol in the room after the suspect left.

According to the grandmother, this is not the first time the news about this alleged incident involving her son-in-law (suspect) had reached her.

When the incident first was reported to her by one of her daughters (victim’s aunt) about the night of Thanksgiving last year, she didn’t believe it. However, the information regarding the alleged sexual abuse alerted her and that’s when she warned the suspect not to come near her residence.

She further told police that the matter was never reported to authorities because it is an embarrassment to their family. Her two daughters also wanted to keep the incident within the family.

She said she decided to call police when the suspect showed up at her home that week, because it appeared that he doesn’t care about what happened to his stepdaughter.

The grandmother also told investigators that she also contacted her daughter (suspect’s wife) who was off-island at the time of the alleged incident to inform her about the situation. Her daughter told her to give her time to speak to her husband (suspect).

Two weeks later, her daughter contacted her and told her to inform the police regarding the incident.

Investigators also interviewed one of the victim’s aunts regarding to the incident.

According to the woman’s statement to police, it was early December of last year that one of her nieces caught the defendant sexually abusing the victim in the family’s garage.

The woman said her niece told her what happened and when she confronted the suspect that same evening, he allegedly admitted to it and immediately apologized for his actions. He then begged for her forgiveness saying he’s remorseful for what he did. She further stated that prior to the December incident, the suspect was caught multiple times inside the victim’s room while the victim was sleeping.

According to the woman, there were two other incidents in November of last year, where one of her nieces found the suspect in the victim’s room massaging the victim’s chest and body while the victim was sleeping. When the niece intervened and told him to leave, the suspect peacefully left the room. The suspect was heavily intoxicated.

When questioned by police, the victim confirmed everything her aunt told authorities including that the sexual abuse started last year, with the last encounter being in June of this year, and described by the victim as an alleged rape.

The victim told police she tried to push the defendant off, telling him he was hurting her but he continued to hold her down and performed sexual acts on her.

Moments later, the victim’s female cousin walked in and caught the defendant in the act. The victim’s cousin immediately ran back inside the house pretending that she never saw anything. The defendant gave the victim $20 and instructed her not to tell anyone.

According to the victim, the sexual abuse by her stepfather started last year while her mother was off island for medical treatment. She recalled the first incident, saying she was in the shower when the defendant knocked on the door and asked her to open the door. She said she opened the door; the defendant walked in, and locked the door behind him.

She said the defendant told her he wanted to have sex with her but she refused and told him to leave and the defendant left. On the same night while she was sleeping, the defendant forced his way into her bedroom and inappropriately touched her.

The victim said she woke up and tried to push the defendant away but he was too strong. He merely pushed the victim’s hands away, held her down, and continued to force himself on her. The defendant left the room after the victim’s female cousin told him to get out of the house.

On separate occasions, according to the victim, the defendant would catch her outside of the house and touch her body in a sexual manner.

 She said the defendant would tell her not to tell anyone, and he would give her $20- $50 to remain silent. The victim said she didn’t tell anyone about her encounters with the defendant because she was embarrassed and she might be blamed for it. Furthermore, her mother was not on island and she didn’t know if her family or anyone would believe her story.

An eyewitness — a neighbor — interviewed by police said she caught the defendant standing naked outside the victim’s room one night while the victim was sleeping in the room. She said she asked the defendant what he was doing but the defendant told her to be quiet; however she reported the incident to the victim’s aunt who scolded the defendant and chased him out of the house.

The victim’s male cousin, also an eyewitness, told police that in December of last year, he caught the defendant touching his female cousin (victim) from behind while the victim was standing at the sink washing dishes.

After interviewing several witnesses, police went to the home of a friend of the suspect in Mapusaga Fou and apprehended the suspect, and he was taken to the police station for questioning.

Before he was taken to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for questioning, the defendant was patted down and police discovered a baggie containing a white crystalline substance and a glass pipe also containing a white crystalline substance.

The white crystalline substance was tested and the result was positive for meth.

When asked about the allegations, the defendant admitted to police of sexually abusing his niece and allegedly confirmed what the whole family had told authorities.

The defendant further stated to investigators that he’s truly sorry for what he did and he deserved to be locked up for his actions.