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Man accused of sexual abuse says family wants him off the land

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 46-year-old man from Leone was taken into custody last week for the alleged sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl. Nomineta Solomona, a.k.a Neta 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 due to the seriousness of the allegation.

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 GOVERNMENT’S CASE

The matter was reported to authorities by the victim’s aunty last month. 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 there, he met her at the door and asked her to come in and watch a movie while he went to the store to buy cigarettes for himself and their female neighbor.

The victim said she entered the house, and Solomona escorted her to the living room, and told her to sit and watch whatever she wanted. Solomona then left for the store and when he returned, he had two packs of cigarettes, one case of beer, 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 herself. 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 inappropriately touching/ rubbing her.

The girl said she tried to escape because she could smell alcohol and she also saw empty beer cans lying on the floor in the kitchen area. 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 noted 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 on Christmas eve, involving Solomona and her daughter, but it was not reported because both parties had settled it.

In 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.

Police were unable to locate Solomona immediately after they interviewed the victim and her mother. Last week, Solomona turned himself in.

When questioned by police, Solomona denied any wrongdoing. He told investigators that he didn’t see the victim at his home on the weekend, and that the only person who visited his house on that Saturday morning was a female from his neighborhood who came for a cigarette.

He said he drank the last of his leftover beer by noon on Saturday, 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.