Ads by Google Ads by Google

Man arrested for PPD may face sexual abuse charges of a 16-yr-old

Court Report logo
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of disturbing the public peace in Taputimu last week is scheduled to appear in Court tomorrow for a Status Hearing. The government’s attorney informed the court last week that there is a possibility additional charges will be filed against the defendant on the allegation that he sexually abused a 16-year-old female.

Faalili Tamafolau made his initial appearance in court last week.

He is charged with trespass; public peace disturbance (PPD) and 3rd degree assault; all misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $1,000. The court informed the defendant that bail would be increased if the government files additional charges against him.

THE ALLEGATION

The government claims that a woman called the Tafuna Police Substation for assistance, after a fight escalated between her brother and a man who is known to their family as a mechanic. The mechanic was later identified as Faalili Tamafolau, the defendant in this matter.

Several police officers responded to the call and met up with a woman who identified herself as the person who made the call. Officers also observed a crowd of people gathered around while two men tried to hold back another male individual from going inside the house.

Officers settled everyone down and managed to control the situation.

The woman who made the call explained to police that it was around 7p.m on that evening, May 3rd when she heard people arguing from her brother’s home next to her house. She stood up and ran to her brother’s house and found her brother fighting with another male individual. That male individual was later identified as Tamafolau.

She tried to find out what triggered the fight between her brother and the defendant, and her brother’s wife told her that the defendant, who is the mechanic who always fixes their vehicle allegedly touched her daughter in a sexual manner.

Investigators turned to the man allegedly involved in the fight with the defendant, who explained he has known Tamafolau for over 5 years and he has worked on his vehicle during that time.

He said, on Saturday, Apr. 25th around 2p.m, he called Tamafolau to come and fix his vehicle. Tamafolau was left alone to fix the man’s vehicle while the man and his wife went to town for shopping. The man’s 16-year-daughter was sleeping inside the house when her parents left the house to go shopping.

Tamafolau had already left the house when the couple arrived back home. According to the man’s statement to police, he was standing at the side of his vehicle when his daughter approached him and told him that something bad happened between her and the mechanic guy.

When he asked his daughter what she meant, her daughter told him that she was sleeping inside the living room when she felt someone touching her inappropriately. That’s when she woke up and saw Tamafolau kneeling on the side of the couch where she was sleeping. She immediately stood up and walked inside her room, grabbed her phone and took a picture of Tamafolau while he was still inside the house.

The victim’s father tried to call Tamafolau’s phone but he never answered. He also visited his house twice on the same day but he was not at home.

Two weeks later on May 3rd around 7p.m, Tamafolau and another man visited the victim’s home. Tamafolau confronted the victim’s father and asked him about rumors that he sexually abused his daughter.

As the victim’s father tried to talk to Tamafolau, the defendant allegedly punched him in the face causing him to fall on the ground.

Investigators interviewed the victim and she confirmed to police her father’s statement about what happened.

When questioned by investigators, Tamafolau strongly denied the allegation against him. He told investigators that he went inside the house to get water to drink, however, the victim chased him outside.

After considering all the information regarding the alleged incident, Tamafolau was arrested and transported to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) where he was booked and detained.