A 40-year-old Keaau man is accused of forcibly restraining, assaulting and twice raping a 12-year-old girl he was prohibited from having contact with by a court order.
James Pomaikai Kepa is charged with two counts of first-degree sex assault, plus kidnapping and second-degree assault. According to court documents filed by police, the incident is alleged to have occurred late Wednesday and early Thursday at a Hawaiian Paradise Park home.
The girl told authorities that Kepa — whom she knew — barricaded her inside a room, tied her up with straps, slapped her face and punched her chest when she resisted, and took off her clothes before removing his own.
According to the documents, the girl had a bruised chest when examined.
The minor asked Kepa, according to documents, “What are you doing?” He allegedly replied, “Don’t worry about it. Kepa then allegedly raped the girl twice.
A court order prohibiting Kepa from having contact with the girl was granted on Jan. 26, 2021, and expires on Jan. 6, 2024.
What isn’t explained in the probable cause documents is how or why Kepa and the minor were in the same residence with the court order in place.
The most serious charges, first-degree sex assault and kidnapping, are Class A felonies punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment. Prosecutors have provided notice in the complaint of their intention to seek an extended term of imprisonment.
Bail for Kepa was set at $610,000, but prosecutors filed a written motion to hold him without bail, a move rarely made before a defendant’s initial appearance in District Court.
In the motion, Deputy Prosecutor Haaheo Kahoohalahala noted that Kepa is serving a five-year probation sentence for a 2021 conviction for kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening and felony domestic abuse.
Kahoohalahala wrote there is a “serious risk” that Kepa “will obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice or … injure or intimidate” prospective witnesses, and that witnesses in the case “are concerned for their own safety.”
At Kepa’s initial court appearance Monday, the Office of the Public Defender withdrew from the case due to a conflict of interest, and Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk appointed Hilo attorney Jeremy Butterfield to defend Kepa.
Hawk also maintained Kepa’s bail at $610,000 and ordered Kepa to return to court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing and a hearing about the motion to jail Kepa without bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.