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Man jailed for having sex with a 12 year old
Tuesday,
June 30, 2009
The High Court has sentenced a man convicted of having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl to 28 months in jail.
The defendant Talavou Tuitea was charged with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of child molestation. In a plea agreement he pled guilty to a single count of sexual assault while the
remaining charges were dropped.
Chief Justice Michael Kruse said the government offered a plea deal in this case saying it wanted to spare the victim from re-living the painful memories of what happened.
Kruse sentenced Tuitea to 7 years in prison however the sentence was suspended and he's placed on probation under the condition that he
serves 28 months in jail. Tuitea was also ordered to depart the territory after serving jail time and stay away for the remainder of his probation term.
Tuitea admitted that he had sexual intercourse with the 12 year old several times between September and December last year. According to the government the defendant threatened to cut off the victim's head with a machete if she told anyone about the encounters.
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