Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 46-year-old man from Pago Pago accused of raping his 15-year-old niece was arrested last week and is now in custody. He made his initial appearance before District Court Judge Pro Temp Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde last week.

The government claims that the alleged sexual abuse began last year, when the victim was an 8th grader. To protect the identity of the victim — a minor — Samoa News is withholding the defendant’s name. (The defendant, who is not new to the court system, is first cousin with the victim’s mother).

The defendant is charged with one count of rape; two counts of sodomy; and one count of first-degree sexual abuse, all felonies. He is also facing two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

Bond is set at $25,000 and the preliminary examination is this morning.

THE AFFIDAVIT

It was the victim’s grandmother who reported the alleged incident to police on Sept. 20th.

According to the woman, her nephew (the defendant) — whom she warned previously about not coming near her residence — was seen roaming around her house, as if trying to provoke something.

When cops responded, the woman told the police that her nephew left after she scolded him to leave. When asked why she doesn’t want her nephew to come around, the woman shared a horrifying tale.

She said several family members had caught her nephew doing nasty things to her 15-year-old granddaughter the month before. She further told police that the matter was never reported to authorities because it is an embarrassment to their family.

She said she decided to call police when her nephew showed up at her home that night, because it appears that he doesn’t care about what happened to her granddaughter.

According to the woman’s statement to police, it was early August that her grandson (the victim’s brother) caught her nephew (the defendant) doing nasty things to the victim inside the family’s outdoor kitchen.

The woman said her grandson told her what happened and when she confronted her nephew that same evening, he allegedly admitted to it. She further stated that prior to the August incident, the defendant was caught multiple times last year, performing sexual acts inside the victim’s bedroom, while the victim was sleeping.

According to the woman, there were two other incidents last year, whereby she caught the defendant trying to wake the victim up to go with him, but she intervened and scolded him to leave.

When questioned by police, the victim confirmed everything her grandmother told authorities — including that the sexual abuse started last year, with the last encounter being in August of this year.

On that day, the victim said, she had gone to the outdoor kitchen early in the morning to get some snacks, and the defendant was there. As the victim was trying to exit, her uncle blocked the doorway. The girl asked her uncle to move but he said no. That’s when the defendant pushed the girl to the side, forcibly removed her clothes, and proceeded to use his hands and mouth to sexually abuse her.

The victim told police she tried to push her uncle off, telling him he was hurting her but her uncle continued to hold her down and perform sexual acts on her.

Moments later, the victim’s brother walked in and caught their uncle in the act.

According to the victim, the sexual abuse started last year, when she was in 8th grade. She recalled the first incident, saying she was in her sister’s room when their uncle knocked on the door. She said she opened the door; her uncle walked in, and locked the door behind him.

She said her uncle told her he wanted to have sex with her but she refused and told him to leave. She said her uncle grabbed her arm, pushed her on to the bed and raped her.

The victim said she tried to push her uncle away but he was too strong. He merely pushed the victim’s hands away, held her down, and continued to have forcible intercourse with her.

She said when he was done; her uncle stood up and left, without saying a word.

On separate occasions, according to the victim, her uncle would catch her in the outdoor kitchen or even her bedroom, late at night or early in the morning, and would do nasty things to her with his hands and mouth before allegedly raping her.

 She said her uncle would tell her not to tell anyone, and he would give her $5- $10 to remain silent. The victim said she didn’t tell anyone about her encounters with her uncle, because she was embarrassed and that she might be blamed for it.

An eyewitness — a female relative — interviewed by police said she caught the defendant masturbating in her room while the victim was sleeping in the same room. She said she asked the defendant what he was doing inside her room but the defendant told her to be quiet; however she reported the incident to the victim’s grandmother who scolded the defendant and chased him out of the house.

The victim’s brother, also an eyewitness, told police that in August of this year, he caught their uncle performing sexual acts on his sister, using his hands and mouth. The boy said when he entered their family kitchen, he saw his sister sitting on a chair while the defendant was doing bad things to her, while using his left hand to close his sister’s mouth.

On Sept. 23rd, police went to the defendant’s home in Pago, and the man was transported to the police station for questioning.

When asked about the allegations, the defendant said to police, “With all due respect to you police officers, there is nothing else we can do because it happened; but I tell you, the truth is, this girl (victim) agreed to have sexual intercourse. Even though I told her that I could be locked up for it, she would not yield.”

The defendant admitted to having a sexual relationship with the victim. He confessed to having sexual intercourse with her, in her brother’s room last summer. He also allegedly admitted that the victim’s brother caught him sexually abusing the victim and having sex with her in the kitchen, and in the bedroom.

According to the government, the defendant lives with relatives near the victim’s home but he goes to the victim’s home everyday to help out with chores for his aunt, who is also the victim’s grandmother.

BACKGROUND

The defendant is not new to the system, as in 2008, he pled guilty to unlawful possession of marijuana, and was ordered to serve 20 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) as a condition of his 5-year probation sentence.

In that case, the defendant was reported to have been selling marijuana joints to people at the bus stop at the Fagatogo Marketplace.