Man arrested in alleged underage rape case claims sex was consensual

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 31-year-old man from Samoa accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl for a period of almost a year is now in custody after he was arrested last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court. During his arrest, police discovered drugs in his pocket.

The defendant, Filisi Mauigoa, a.k.a Filisi Mau made his initial appearance in Court last month where he waived his right to a preliminary examination.

Mauigoa is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, an unclassified felony; along with one count of rape and two counts of sodomy, both class B felonies, punishable by imprisonment of not less than five years not more than fifteen years; and one count of 1st- degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

Bail is set at $20,000.

If he posts bond, Mauigoa is ordered to remain law abiding and not to make any direct or indirect contact with the government’s witnesses, including the victim and her family. If he encounters them in public, he is to walk away peacefully.

The court made it clear to the defendant that “no direct contact” means, no phone calls nor Facebook messages at all.

Mauigoa appeared in High Court two weeks ago for his arraignment, where he entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him.

His pretrial conference is set for August of this year.

THE ALLEGATION

The government claims that it was on the morning of Apr. 18, 2022 when a woman walked into the TPS with her daughter to report an alleged sexual incident involving her daughter and a man who is also from their village. The woman and her daughter were later identified as the 16-year-old victim and her mother.

According to the victim’s mother’s statement to investigators, she only became aware of the alleged incident after she discovered that her daughter was missing from their home on the late night of Apr. 17. It was her nephew who alerted her that the victim was not in the house.

In search for her daughter, the mother later discovered her daughter’s cell phone on her bed. She went through the phone and she discovered text messages from a person named ‘Fritz’, who was later identified as Filisi Mauigoa, the defendant in this matter.

It appeared from the text messages between the victim and the defendant that something had happened between them over a period of 10 months and they had also engaged in a sexual relationship since December of last year.

When investigators interviewed the victim regarding her side of the story, she told police that she was approached by Filisi at a store in Tafuna around June of last year when he had approached her. She said they would later meet up at the field during soccer games and were able to create a close friendship.

The second week into their friendship, the victim and the defendant began talking through text messages utilizing Facebook and their friendship grew closer.

After three months of meeting each other, the defendant then pushed for her to come to his house and she finally did in the last week of October last year at night — without informing her mother about her whereabouts.

It was during that first visit to Filisi’s home where the first alleged rape occurred after the victim told Filisi that she did not want a sexual relationship. The victim described when and how the rape happened, including that she tried hard to push the defendant away but he was too strong for her and that while he was raping her, the victim put his right hand on the victim’s mouth to stop her from yelling out.

It was on that day that the sexual relationship between the defendant and the victim began, and continued up until the night of Apr. 17, when the victim’s mother discovered that her daughter was missing from their home.

According to the victim’s statement to investigators, they had sexual relations more than 20 times between October and April of that year. She described the instances to the investigators, noting that they would have sex two times a week when they met up at the defendant’s home.

There were times that Filisi gave her money ranging from $20 to $40 to buy her phone data so that they could communicate via Messenger at night.

On the morning of Apr. 18, officers went to Kokoland to locate Filisi however, he was not at his residence. His uncle told police that Filisi left their house early in the morning to go fishing with his cousins.

Filisi was apprehended from his friend’s home last month after the parents filed their complaint and was taken to the TPS for questioning. During a body search of Filisi before he was transported to the TPS, a small baggie containing a green leafy substance was discovered inside his rear pocket.

When questioned by investigators, Filisi first confessed and admitted to the sex allegations against him. He told investigators that he knew the victim was a minor, however, his desire for a relationship did not stop him from committing the crime.

He denied the allegation that he raped the victim on the first night of their sexual relationship, saying it was consensual.

However, he did admit sending text messages to the victim utilizing his Facebook account, and that he asked the victim to come to his place on the night of the alleged incident.

When questioned about the green leafy substance discovered in his possession, Filisi said it belonged to him and was for personal use.