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Man who had consensual relationship with a 16-year-old convicted of rape

American Samoa High Court building
He will serve 5 years at TCF before departing the territory for 15 years
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The married man who left his wife and then had an affair with a 16-year-old girl was sentenced by the High Court to serve 5 years behind bars as oe of the conditions of his 15-year probation.

The case was reported to police by the defendant’s wife, after the woman received a tip from a family member of the victim. Moreover, the mother of the victim allowed the affair to continue after she was unable to stop her daughter from dating the defendant.

The defendant, Maresi Sam-Chong, who has been in custody since his arrest in February of this year, unable to post a $30,000 surety bond appeared before Acting Justice Elvis P. Patea this week for sentencing.

Assistant Public Defender, Ryan Anderson represented the defendant while Assistant Attorney General, Kristine Soule prosecuted the case.

Sam-Chong was initially charged with three counts of rape, a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than fifteen years. However, in a plea agreement, accepted by the Court two months ago, Sam-Chong pled guilty to one count of rape.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, the remaining charges were dismissed.

When given the chance to address the court, the defendant apologized for his action and asked the court for forgiveness. He stated that he’s truly remorseful for what he did and he wants to move on with his life.

Defense attorney, Anderson asked the court for a probated sentence saying his client quickly admitted to the allegation against him and took full responsibility for his action.

Anderson also told the court that his client is willing to depart the territory and remain outside of its borders for whatever period of time the court is going to place him on probation. He further stated that a family member is willing to pay his client’s return fare to Samoa.

The prosecutor told the court that the defendant threatened the victim and forced his way into her life in order to have a sexual relationship with her. The victim is a minor and the court needs to protect her from people like this defendant.

One of the mitigating factors for the defendant, according to the prosecutor, is that he quickly pled guilty to the charges against him. Soule then asked the court to sentence the defendant to a period of incarceration as a condition of his probation.

The court asked the government’s attorney what period of detention the court should impose on the defendant.

Soule said five years is one-third of the 15 years, which is the maximum sentence for the charge of rape to which the defendant pled guilty.

The court was also informed that the defendant’s passport expired in 2015 and he needs time to renew his travel documents before any travel arrangment is made for his departure.

After reviewing facts of the case, the court sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment of 15 years. Execution of the sentence was suspended and the defendant was placed on probation for 15 years subject to several conditions from the court.

He shall serve a period of detention of 60 months, which is 5 years. All but 12 months will be stayed. After serving 12 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF), the defendant is ordered to immediately depart the territory and remain outside of its borders for the remaining period of his probation, which is 15 years.

He shall not have any more contact with the victim in this case; he shall register as a sex offender, and he shall also undergo HIV testing at the Department of Health Laboratory.

The Court also ordered that a copy of the Judgment and Sentence be served to the Chief Immigration Officer and the Attorney General’s Office to make sure they included the defendant’s name on their Lookout list.

Associate Judges Suapaia J. Pereira and Paepae I. Faiai assisted Patea on the bench.

BACKGROUND

On Feb.19th, 2021, a woman walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report that her husband (defendant) had left their marriage and was allegedly having an affair with a 16-year-old minor.

She told investigators that her husband’s brother told her that her husband (defendant) would pick up the victim every night. Furthermore, the defendant’s wife told investigators that the victim’s mother contacted her husband’s brother and told him that the victim is pregnant with the defendant’s child.

After receiving the information, investigators contacted everyone involved in the matter, asking them to come to the TPS to discuss the issue.

The following day, Feb. 20th, the defendant walked into the TPS and introduced himself to investigators where he was Mirandized, after being told of allegations of his relationship with a 16-year-old girl.

The defendant said he understood and agreed to provide a written and verbal statement to investigators.

The defendant verbally stated that he left his wife and started dating the victim in December of last year. Their relationship started on Dec. 25th, 2020 and the victim’s mother was aware of his relationship with her daughter (victim) and she gave him permission to date her daughter.

He described the relationship as both sexual and friendly — with nightly visitations starting from the last week of December 2020, and the whole of January and the beginning of February of 2021.

The defendant told investigators that he knew his marriage was irreparable, and he then decided to date this young girl because he loved her, and he wanted to be with her, despite the fact that she was only 16 years old.

After interviewing the defendant, investigators interviewed the 16-year-old regarding the alleged relationship.

The victim confirmed what the defendant said saying it was in the month of December when she started seeing him.

She said he’s a loving person, who always provided everything she wanted, and he would call on her to check how was she doing and asking if she needed anything.

The victim admitted to investigators in the presence of her mother that she and the defendant had been having a sexual relationship since December of last year, up until the first week of February of this year.

She said the love between her and Sam-Chong grew stronger and stronger and it got to the point where she wanted to marry him and be with him for the rest of her life.

At times when they were not together, the victim said she used her sister’s phone and Facebook to communicate with Sam-Chong.

The victim’s mother stated that she had known about her daughter’s relationship with the defendant. She said she at first was against it, but finally gave in and gave her permission. She said she didn’t report it to police when she found out because she couldn’t convince her daughter to stop seeing Sam-Chong.

According to the victim’s mother, she was not aware that her daughter and Sam-Chong had a sexual relationship.

The victim’s sister was also interviewed by investigators. During her interview, she stated that she didn’t know anything about her sister having sex with Sam-Chong.

The victim’s sister said Sam-Chong was her husband’s cousin and he would come by their place to visit and he did not show any demeanor of any kind of having a sexual relationship with her sister.

She further stated that it was in the month of January when the victim revealed to her that she was in a relationship with Sam-Chong. The victim’s sister said she tried to convince her sister to end relationship with the defendant.