A 16-year-old girl told police a state enforcement officer accused of a New Year’s Day sexual assault forced himself on her after he caught her smoking marijuana at a Hilo beach, according to court documents.
According to the just-released redacted version of the probable cause documents in the Ethan Ferguson case, the alleged victim told officers an on-duty, uniformed Department of Land and Natural Resources officer saw her smoking marijuana in a pipe at Lalakea Beach Park in the Keaukaha area.
The girl told police the DLNR officer then gave her the option “for payment not to be taken to the police station of either money, drugs or sex,” documents state.
Documents state the teen told the state enforcement officer she didn’t have money or drugs and was unwilling to have sex with him.
One of the documents states “the defendant however removed the victim’s clothes and performed said sexual acts on her unwillingly,” while three other versions state “the defendant however made her undress and performed said sexual acts on her unwillingly.”
The alleged victim identified the 39-year-old Ferguson from a photographic lineup, documents state.
Ferguson, a former Honolulu Police Department officer, was fired by the state’s largest law enforcement agency before his 2013 hiring as a DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officer.
Pursuant to its own rules, HPD shredded Ferguson’s disciplinary files 30 months after the investigation that brought about his dismissal was initiated, but according to an annual misconduct report to the state Legislature, he ran afoul of the department for falsifying documents and lying to supervisors about transporting a runaway juvenile girl.
James Nishimoto, the state’s Human Resources chief, told state Sen. Will Espero, a Leeward Oahu Democrat, a background check was done on Ferguson and turned up no criminal convictions. He told the senator the state knew Ferguson had been let go by HPD but wasn’t given a reason for his termination.
HPD, however, says it told the state it shouldn’t hire Ferguson.
Ferguson, who is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and four counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, is scheduled to appear Feb. 2 in Hilo District Court.
He’s free on $13,000 bail.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
