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Stepfather sentenced after plea agreement in sex abuse case

A man from Lauli’i, Samoa, whose been in the territory since 1972, will be deported to his homeland after he serves five years in jail as part of his 15 years probation sentence. The stepfather who has been in jail since November 2013 was charged with two counts of sexual abuse first degree and one count of third degree assault for offensive touching after it was alleged that he sexually abused his two stepdaughters aged 12 and 8. In the interest of protecting the victims’ identity in this matter Samoa News is withholding the name of the defendant.

 

In a plea agreement with the government, he pled guilty to sodomy and sexual abuse first degree. The sodomy charge was amended from one of the sexual abuse charges.

 

During sentencing the defendant apologized to the victims and their mother. He also rendered his apology to the court, the government of American Samoa and his family for denigrating his family’s good name.

 

The defendant’s sister told the court that her brother has been in the territory since 1972 and has not returned to Samoa. She also appealed to the court to be lenient and upon serving his jail time, “if it pleases the court, I would want him to be released to me, so I can help him be a better person.”

 

The sister, who along with her husband is a minister, said their family from Lauli’i, Samoa has since moved off island and to date no one is living in Samoa to care for her brother. Assistant Public Defender Karen Shelley asked the court for a probated sentence and pointed out to the court that defendant has been in jail since last year November. She also asked for leniency in this matter.

 

Assistant Attorney General Tiffany Oldfiled on the other hand, asked for the maximum sentence allowable under the law. She pointed out that this case is a crime of opportunity and the sexual incidents occurred over a period of two years. “He’s been in jail for almost a year and yet he was abusing the two young girls for over two years,” pointed out Oldfield, who argued for defendant to be jailed for 15 years.

 

Associate Justice John L Ward sentenced the defendant to 15 years for the sodomy count and five years for sexual abuse, they are to be served concurrently. However execution of sentencing is suspended and the defendant is placed on 15 years probation on the condition that after serving five years in prison he is deported and remains outside of the territory for the duration of his probation. He must also register as a sex offender and undergo HIV testing as part of the statute on convicted sex offenders.

 

Ward also pointed out to the Assistant PD that they need to submit a bill for their time representing the defendant in court for the court’s review, after which it is turned over to the immigration office to be given to the defendant’s sponsor, in accordance with the immigration statute.

 

According to the government’s case, on October 22, 2013 police received a call from Social Services about a sexual abuse case involving two minor sisters and taking place over a period of two years. Court filings say that after the last incident occurred on the Friday before White Sunday in 2013, a family meeting was called and the defendant left the house that evening. However the next day the defendant returned and apologized to the victim’s mother and returned to live with them. The victims were removed from their home after the abuse was reported.