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Overstayer charged with raping his 16-yr-old niece

American Samoa District Court building
He allegedly told police he gets aroused every time he sees her
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 35-year-old overstayer from Samoa who resides in Tafuna was arrested last week for allegedly having a sexual relationship with his 16-year-old niece.

Samoa News is withholding the name of the defendant, to protect the identity of the victim in this case.

The defendant, whose Immigration ID expired 2 years ago, appeared in District Court last week for his initial appearance.

He is facing six criminal charges, including 2 counts of rape, 2 counts of first-degree assault, and 2 counts of deviate sexual assault — all felonies.

Bond is set at $50,000.

If released on bond, the defendant is ordered not to set foot in the victims home, and he is not to make any direct or indirect contact with the victim and her family. He also has to move away from the village where the victim and her family reside.

Furthermore, the defendant is to remain law abiding and he is not to depart the territory without prior written permission from the court.

The preliminary hearing (PX) is set for this Thursday at 1p.m.

THE CASE

According to the government's case, on June 3rd, a woman reported to police that her daughter was having a sexual relationship with the defendant.

The girl allegedly told police that the first incident occurred on Dec. 26, 2018 when she woke up and the defendant was lying next to her inside her bedroom, touching her back and her body inappropriately.

The second alleged incident occurred on Jan 24, 2019 when the defendant woke the girl up and told her he needed to talk to her at his house. The victim followed him, and that’s when the two had sexual intercourse at the defendant's home.

The government claims that the victim told a social worker that the defendant raped her. The victim said she was sleeping in the living room alone when the defendant woke her up.

She claims the defendant was drunk that night, when he entered her room and told her he needed to talk to her in his room. The girl said she attempted to wake up her little brother, who was sleeping inside the other room to accompany her, but the defendant instructed her “not to wake him up”.

According to the victim, the defendant grabbed her and pushed her towards his house and had sex with her, even though she told him to stop. The victim said she tried to yell but the defendant told her to be quiet, according to the government's case.

“Victim told defendant to stop and told him he was hurting her but defendant again told her to be quiet; victim again pleaded with him to let her go home and that he was hurting her stomach but defendant told her stop and be quiet,” the government alleges.

During an interview with police, the defendant allegedly admitted that he has had feelings for his niece for a very long time, and that he’s aroused every time he sees her. Based on court filings, the defendant allegedly told police that the first incident occurred when he went to fetch an iPod charger and the girl was sleeping, with her shirt halfway up to her breast. That’s when he touched her inappropriately.

The second incident occurred in the beginning of this year when the two had sex inside the defendant’s home.

The defendant has denied accusations by the victim’s mother that he is on drugs. He told police he only drinks, and he doesn’t do drugs.