By JOHN BURNETT By JOHN BURNETT ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer A 56-year-old Pahoa man accused of molesting two children in a family-owned Leilani Estates bed and breakfast where he lived was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury. The indictment
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 56-year-old Pahoa man accused of molesting two children in a family-owned Leilani Estates bed and breakfast where he lived was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
The indictment charges John Ridgely Tucker with six counts of producing child pornography. According to the indictment, Tucker used and enticed two minor children, who are identified only by initials, to produce six images of child pornography in 2008.
A court affidavit filed by the FBI said an investigation was initiated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which received several digital images of a man performing sexual acts with two children. It stated that one of the images “showed a 2008-2009 telephone book issued by Hawaiian Telcom for the Island of Hawaii in the background.” Special Agent Ethan G. Cumming wrote that the same images had turned up during an unrelated investigation by the Phoenix FBI office.
An FBI spokesman said that after publicly issuing photos of the man with the likenesses of the children cropped out on Oct. 10, the agency’s Honolulu office received numerous calls identifying the man. The Tribune-Herald also received calls and emails identifying the man as Tucker.
Tucker, who also worked as a salesman for Willocks Construction, was arrested Oct. 11 after federal agents and local police served a search warrant on Hale Makamae Bed and Breakfast, where Tucker lived. The original complaint stated that the alleged molestation occurred there. A court document stated that a tower computer was confiscated and it contained child porn images.
Each of the six charges in the indictment carries a minimum penalty of 15 years in imprisonment, and a possibility of up to 30 years in prison upon conviction and a potential lifetime term of supervised release after any prison term is served.
Tucker was scheduled for a preliminary hearing this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, but the indictment constitutes probable cause to bind Tucker over for trial on the charges, so the hearing will not be held. Tucker is scheduled, however, for an arraignment and plea on Friday at 10 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang.
Tucker remains in custody without bail in the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
