A 45-year-old Kailua-Kona man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor girl.
Kailua-Kona Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese handed down the sentence Friday to Joshua Masuda-Mercado.
Masuda-Mercado was found guilty in September by a Kona jury of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and attempted first-degree sexual assault of a minor. The offenses took place between November 2014 and August 2018, with a separate incident in July 2019.
Both offenses are Class A felonies carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years, and Masuda-Mercado will serve the prison time for both offenses concurrently.
Masuda-Mercado, who has no prior criminal record other than traffic infractions, also will be required to register as a sex offender. He didn’t testify during the trial.
The victim, identified only by her initials, was born in November 2006, according to the indictment.
Masuda-Mercado was indicted by a Kona grand jury on Aug. 10, 2020.
According to county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen, the indictment and accompanying bench warrant setting bail at $100,000 went unserved for 10 months.
Waltjen said Masuda-Mercado was located in Tennessee in June 2021, and investigators coordinated Masuda-Mercado’s extradition back to Hawaii to face the charges.
Waltjen called protecting keiki “a top priority” for his office.
“Sex assault against a minor is an egregious crime that will not be tolerated,” Waltjen said in a statement. “We will continue to work tirelessly to seek justice for victims of sexual abuse and to hold offenders accountable.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-Herald.com.
