A once-paroled murderer convicted of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl in a Pepeekeo church has been sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison, consecutive to the life sentence he’s already serving.
A once-paroled murderer convicted of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl in a Pepeekeo church has been sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison, consecutive to the life sentence he’s already serving.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara imposed the sentence Thursday on Peter Kalani Bailey. The 57-year-old Bailey was found guilty by a jury in February of three counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault and a single count of attempted third-degree sexual assault.
The judge also ordered Bailey to register as a sex offender.
It’s the second time Bailey has been convicted for the events of the night of July 22, 2007, in the Hamakua Coast Assembly of God Church.
His 2009 conviction on four counts of first-degree attempted sexual assault and the 20-year sentence imposed at that time were overturned in 2012 by the Hawaii Supreme Court. The high court ruled Hara should have declared a mistrial after a juror told others about Bailey’s prior murder conviction.
Bailey’s parole was revoked after he was charged with the sex offenses.
Bailey, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, engaged in a bizarre attempt Thursday to introduce two motions at the beginning of the hearing. One, he said, addressed what he alleged were flaws in Hara’s jury instructions.
“The other motion is a motion to dismiss the indictment or for acquittal,” Bailey told the judge.
Hara noted he’d already delayed sentencing once to allow Bailey time to file written motions and denied Bailey’s request.
The victim, now an adult, testified at trial that Bailey, then the church’s choir director, took her there to practice singing with her mother’s permission. She said she went with Bailey because she trusted him.
She said after they sang, Bailey started to massage her, then took her clothes off while rubbing oil on her. The woman told jurors she’d been raped.
The victim’s older brother testified he found Bailey and the girl naked in a back room of the church and ran to an uncle’s house for help.
The uncle said when he arrived at the church, Bailey was on top of the girl, both were naked, and Bailey was performing a sex act on her.
In a 911 call played during the re-trial, the uncle told the dispatcher, “I gotta tell you that I lost it when I first got here and I seen what happened.”
He also told the dispatcher, “I wen’ hit him, so he’s bleeding.”
Keith Shigetomi, Bailey’s court-appointed attorney, asked the court to make Bailey’s sentencing concurrent to the life sentence he is currently serving for the 1979 kidnapping, robbery and murder of 17-year-old Carol Olandy on Oahu.
“While incarcerated, Peter has not incurred any write-ups; he is misconduct-free,” Shigetomi said. “He has had a good track record in prison and has been granted parole previously. It’s my understanding that the warden from (Hawaii Community Correctional Center) personally thanked him because he was present for two escapes at that prison and did not participate in the escape.”
Deputy Prosecutor Haaheo Kahoohalahala argued for the consecutive sentence, saying Bailey has “absolutely no regard for the safety or life of others.”
“When the defendant was paroled he raped an innocent child, and those actions show that he is a danger to the community and he should never be released into the community again,” she said. “… The defendant has shown no remorse for what he did. He’s never apologized or taken responsibility for what he did.”
Shigetomi took issue with Kahoohalahala’s argument and said Bailey has remained silent on his advice.
“Your Honor, we would object to the characterization in the argument that he went out and raped an innocent girl,” he said. “That’s not what he was charged with and … we object to the terms used in the argument.”
When asked if he wished to make a statement, Bailey replied, “Uh, no, sir.”
Hara noted he’s prevented by law from imposing a harsher sentence than the one handed down in the first trial. He said Bailey abused “a position of trust in a church to sexually exploit a 12-year-old minor.”
“Mr. Bailey, I’ve sat through two trials,” the judge said. “In essence, I’ve watched this young lady grow up from the first trial to the next. And I have come to the conclusion after watching her testify the second time that the experience you put her through still impacts her greatly, still affects her life. She’s still a victim.
“… You do constitute a danger to this community, I think, especially to the young women you come across.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaii tribune-herald.com.