Uncle accused of attempted rape

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 49-year-old man was arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant on the allegation that he attempted to rape his 16-year-old relative at the her residence in Ottoville.

The defendant appeared in Court last month for his initial appearance.

According to the government’s case, it was on May 09, 2022 when the TPS received a distress phone call from a woman stating that her 16-year-old daughter was allegedly raped by a man, who is her 49-year-old male cousin, and she requested police assistance.

The woman further stated that her male cousin lives next door and he was currently drunk.

The reporter briefed officers at her home about what happened. The reporter, along with the victim were both transported to the TPS for further investigation, before officers proceeded to the defendant’s house to him up.

The victim was questioned by investigators about the alleged incident. According to the victim, she was sleeping and she felt someone trying to pull her pants down. She immediately woke up and saw the defendant standing beside her bed. The victim asked the defendant what he was doing in her room but the defendant said he had come to check on her after he saw that her mother’s vehicle was not at the house.

The victim quickly grabbed her phone that was under her pillow and struck the defendant’s head and that was when she escaped and ran outside of the house, crying and at the same time looking for help.

A few minutes later, the victim saw her mother’s vehicle coming home so she explained to her mother what happened.

The victim also told police that when she woke up, the defendant whispered to her not to make any noises and later forced her to pull her pants down.

The government alleges that the defendant tried to shut the victim up and forcefully touched her inappropriately — leaving a mark on the area.

According to the victim, this is not the first time the defendant did this to her. In April of this year, she was cleaning her mother’s vehicle when someone touched her chest from behind. She turned around and saw the defendant standing behind her laughing.

One week after that, the defendant did it again — touched her inappropriately — while she was watching T.V inside the living room.

When officers picked the defendant up from his house, he was patted down before being transported, and officers found two hand rolled cigarettes containing a green leafy substance inside the his pants pocket.

After Mirandizing the defendant, he made a statement denying the alleged inappropriate touching and sexual abuse.

He told officers that he was at the victim’s residence to watch over her because her mom was not there. He said every time he visited the victim’s residence the mom was not there and he always sleeps there to watch over her (victim).

Officers observed a swelling on the left side of the defendant’s ear and asked the defendant how he injured his ear. The defendant said he fell down while trying to fix the back of his house, denying it was from being struck by the victim.

While interviewing the defendant, he was asked if he was under the influence of alcohol and he confessed that he has been drinking since the night before until then. He verbally stated that he had had 6 large beers.

The defendant had a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath and body. He was later transported to prison where he was booked and confined to await the next sitting of the court.

When asked about the two hand rolled cigarettes containing a green leafy substance found inside his pocket, the defendant admitted that they were marijuana cigarettes that he had bought from a friend for himself.

The green leafy substance was later tested and the result was positive for THC, the active compound in marijuana.

The defendant is charged with 3 counts of 1st- degree burglary, 2 counts of attempted rape and 2 counts of 1st- degree sexual abuse, all felonies, along with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, an unclassified felony.

Bail is set at $35,000.