Stepfather accused of sex charges — 18 criminal counts

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Pesamino Pua was arraigned at the District Court on July 2, 2023 and is being charged with 18 criminal counts — 2 counts in sexual abuse in the first degree domestic violence; 1 count for indecent exposure, endangering the welfare of a child (domestic violence), attempted sexual abuse in the first degree (domestic violence), assault in the third degree, endangering the welfare of a child, stalking, harassment, furnishing pornographic materials to minors, public display of explicit sexual material, and 8 counts of indecent exposure.

Court documents revealed that on April 23, 2023 at 4:51 PM, the Criminal Investigation Division received a call from the Tafuna substation in regards to a minor who had reported she was being sexually assaulted by her stepfather — Pua.

According to statements made by the victim, she remembers two separate incidents occurring on and between June 2020 and December 2021. The first incident happened around June 2020 when they stayed in Ili’ili near the golf course. The victim states that it started when they slept in the living room with her mother. The victim further stated that her mother was facing her back towards her when the suspect came by her side slowly and pulled her pants down.

The second incident is alleged to have occurred inside her bedroom, however the victim states that she doesn’t usually sleep there. The victim communicated with detectives that her mom had left the house and left her alone with the suspect. The victim then went into details.

Court documents further reveal the victim stating that around January 2022 to the beginning of February 2023, the suspect stopped what he usually did to her for awhile, when one of their family members came to stay with them.

However, during this period, the suspect began entering her bedroom late at night, usually at 2 or 3 AM to conduct sexual acts towards her when everyone was asleep.

The victim states that the last time the suspect touched her was February 2023 but she  cannot pinpoint the exact day.

On March 1, 2023, the victim moved to her aunt’s house in Tafuna to stay with her due to the suspect's sexual advances towards her. The victim also stated that the suspect kept calling her via messenger several times but she would ignore and decline the calls. The victim said that Pua would also send her nude videos.

According to the aunt of the victim, who provided a witness statement, on April 18, 2023, after Flag Day, the suspect video chatted with the victim on messenger, showing his lower body. The victim then told her aunt that the suspect kept calling via messenger asking if she was alone at the house, to which the victim would tell him that she was with her friends and her aunt.

The witness further states that on April 23, 2023 at noon, the victim told her that the suspect kept sending nude videos of himself via messenger “pleasuring himself”. The witness said she later told her sister, Mikava’a, the mother of the victim, about the incident. When Mikava’a approached and confronted the suspect about the incident, he denied that he did anything to the victim.

On April 23, 2023 at 9:27 PM, the suspect was taken in and Mirandized, which he said he understood and wanted to make a statement about the incident. He denied any and all accusations of conducting sexual acts on the victim.

Pua is being held on a bail of $50,000 and will be awaiting his preliminary examination hearing at the High Court.