Samoa man finally located and charged with multiple sex counts

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 34-year-old man from Samoa accused of sexually abusing his 15-year-old relative was arrested last month, after the initial report was made a few months earlier. During his arrest, the defendant was found with two small stamp sized baggies containing marijuana.

The defendant made his initial appearance in court last month.

(Samoa News has chosen not to identify the man due to the victims being underage, however, he was named in court documents.)

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, a felony, along with 3 counts of 1st- degree sexual abuse, one count of attempted rape and 3 counts of sodomy, all felonies, along with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.

Bail is set at $25,000.

THE CASE

On Jan. 30, 2022 a couple walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting an investigation regarding an alleged incident where their 15-year-old daughter was sexually abused by a family member.

The couple told investigators that on Christmas eve, Dec. 25, 2021, their 15-year-old daughter told them of an incident where the defendant (victim’s mother’s nephew) came into her room late at night on Dec. 24 and did nasty things to her while she was sleeping on her bed.

The couple called a family meeting with their five children, along with the defendant, his wife and his 29-year-old sister who had been living with them since 2016.

Subsequent to the family talk, everyone left the room, except for the mother and the victim who had a conversation.

During the interview with investigators, the victim’s mother stated that during her discussion with her 15-year-old daughter, there was a time her daughter cried with embarrassment asking her mother not to tell anyone, especially her father and siblings about what she told her.

The mother was shocked when her daughter told her about her experience and what the defendant allegedly did to her inside their own house.

The victim told her mother that the first alleged incident happened while they were playing with her phone on her bed inside her room around 11pm on Dec. 24 when the defendant entered her room while the door was open and allegedly touched her inappropriately.

A few hours later while the victim was sleeping, the defendant allegedly went into the victim’s room and and did it again. The victim woke up and saw the defendant on top on her and also realized that the defendant had removed her clothes.

She then yelled at the defendant to get out of her room, which he did — going to his room.

Around 8a.m. on the next morning, which was Christmas day, the defendant allegedly called out to her (the victim) to come to his room so that he could show her something. The victim agreed and walked to the defendant’s room and saw the defendant lying in bed.

According to the victim’s statement, the defendant stood up and carried her onto his bed and placed her (victim) next to him and allegedly sexually abused her by touching her inappropriately.

The victim also stated that the defendant’s wife walked into the room and witnessed her husband’s actions and screamed at him in Samoan.

This is when the victim was able to break away and run outside of the defendant’s room. According to the victim, this incident happened on the morning of Dec. 25, 2021.

The victim also told investigators about other times the defendant touched her inappropriately.

One such incident allegedly happened on Jan. 29, 2022, around 10:30 p.m, when the defendant forced his way inside the bathroom while the victim was taking a shower and attempted to have sex with her but the victim managed to free herself and finally escape and make her way out of the shower. She told investigators that she smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from the defendant’s breath.

Investigators spoke to the defendant’s wife regarding the alleged Dec. 25, 2021 incident that the victim said she (the defendant’s wife) witnessed.

The defendant’s wife confirmed the victim’s account, recalling that she went inside the house to use the bathroom and was shocked when she saw her husband with the victim inside their room.

She told investigators that she confronted her husband with what she had witnessed but her husband told him that they were just playing around and nothing serious happened. She also told investigators that she remembers that her husband was drunk that night.

Investigators questioned the victim’s mother regarding the alleged incident and according to her, after their family discussion on Christmas eve regarding this incident, she strongly warned her nephew (defendant) to stop what he was doing or she would call police.

Then, after her daughter told her about the January incident, she and her husband decided to inform police about the incident.

However, the defendant and his wife had moved out from the victim’s family home and disappeared.

Investigators attempted to locate the defendant but were unsuccessful.

The investigation into this matter continued and last month on May 15, 2022 the defendant was picked up and brought into the TPS for questioning regarding these allegations.

He was Mirandized and agreed to make a statement pertaining to the alleged sexual abuse incidents.

The defendant allegedly admitted that he sexually abused the 15-year old victim several times inside their family home. He told investigators that he was really drunk on each occasion and he didn’t remember what happened.

However, he did recall at least three incidents to police about touching the victim inappropriately and described them.

When asked by investigators why he did this to the young victim, the defendant replied the he didn’t know.

Before the defendant was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down for weapons and contraband. During a body search, police found two small stamp-sized baggies containing marijuana.

When asked by investigators about the illegal substance found in his possession, the defendant said he got it from a friend.