Ads by Google Ads by Google

First witness called in Setu jury trial

American Samoa High Court building
Cross by defense turns up some differences in initial statements
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — It was during the second day of the trial of a school teacher who is accused of sexual abuse of a student that the government called the victim to the witness stand as their first witness.

After the victim’s testimony, the government then called 3 other witnesses to the stand, including the victim’s mother, her best friend, also a student at Tafuna High School, and a representative from the American Samoa Department of Education (AS-DOE).

The defendant, Sione Onelei Setu, who is out on a $5,000 surety bond, is being charged with a single count of 1st degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

VICTIM’S TESTIMONY

In her sworn testimony during Day 2 of Sione Onelei Setu’s jury trial, the victim, who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged incident on Apr. 26, 2017, told the jury that the defendant, her Math teacher at Tafuna High School (THS) touched her chest.

In her testimony, the victim told the jury on the day of the alleged incident, she stayed back after her math class to seek Setu’s assistance on her assignment. She told the jury that after the math class, only she and Setu were inside the classroom at that time

According to the alleged victim, after all students had left the classroom, she then sat down on the bench at the back of the classroom and explained to Setu things she wanted to understand more about her math assignment.

Setu was standing beside her while she was sitting on the bench at first. Setu then came and sat beside her on the bench. It was then that Setu started to touch the victim’s legs. Furthermore, he also allegedly rubbed her thigh, and his hand was moving towards her private parts.

Setu then stood up and walked to the back of the classroom and locked the back door. He then pulled the white board to block the window, before going back to the bench and sitting down close to the victim.

“After he sat down next to me, he then asked me to show him what I needed to understand. I then showed him my assignment. After a moment, Setu stood up and went to his desk to bring his laptop. He then came back and sat closer to me on the bench,” said the victim.

“Did he say anything to you?” Dunn asked the witness. She responded, “Yes, he asked me if I understood what he said.”

“How did he talk to you?” Dunn asked the witness. She replied, “He talked to me in a low sexual voice. When he was about to stand up, he touched my legs and up to my chest area.”

“Where in your chest area did he touch?,” Dunn asked. She replied, “He put his hand pressed hard on my chest area over my clothes.”

The witness further told the jury that when she was about to leave the room, she first bent down to pick up her note book. While she was bending down, she felt Setu touch her butt from behind.

Immediately after the alleged incident, the victim exited the classroom and went straight to where her close friends were, and then told one of her friends what allegedly happened. She also told her mother, her counselor and lastly the vice principal.

The next morning while she was in her English class, Setu came over and asked her English teacher if she would excuse her from the class so that they could discuss something very important.

During their conversation, Setu told her to stop spreading rumors about him, but to keep it a secret between the two of them.

In cross examination, defense attorney, Marcellus T. Uiagalelei asked the witness if she remember what she actually told police when she was first interviewed last year. The witness replied, yes.

“Did you give police a statement?” Uiagalelei asked the witness. She responded, “Yes.”

“Am I correct that you never mentioned the word breast in that statement?” Uiagalelei asked. The witness responded, “Yes.” The witness further stated that she only used the word, breast, after the government followed up with her on this case.

When asked by the defense attorney, the witness told the jury that there were 5 other students who stayed back after their math class to seek assistance from Setu on their math assignment, not only her as she stated in her earlier testimony. She also told the jury that Setu locked the back door of the classroom while the front door was still unlocked.

Two days prior to the date of the alleged incident, an accident happened inside the classroom during Setu’s math class. According to the witness, Setu instructed her to pay attention in class. Her earphones were also confiscated by Setu.

When questioned about the conversation with the vice principal, the witness told the jury that she never mentioned to the vice principal that Setu allegedly touched her breast and her legs.

The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today.