Man, 37, allegedly
fondles girl on city bus

Police say the man apologized
to the 14-year-old victim
after she woke up

A man charged for allegedly fondling a 14-year-old girl while she was asleep on a city bus apologized to her afterward, according to a police affidavit.

Robert Kamaile: The Nanakuli resident has another sex assault case pending

Robert M. Kamaile, 37, of Nanakuli was charged with three counts of third-degree sex assault in the case and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. According to the affidavit filed at District Court yesterday, Kamaile told the victim, "Sorry, girl, I apologize," after the incident took place.

Police said the victim was asleep and seated at the rear of the bus, which she had caught to go to school about 5:55 a.m. Monday. The bus was headed Koko Head-bound on Nimitz Highway and crossing Lagoon Drive when the victim awoke to find the suspect rubbing her thighs with his hands, according to the affidavit.

The suspect then allegedly started rubbing the girl's genital area, first over her shorts, then over her underwear. The suspect then allegedly apologized to the victim, who got up and told the bus driver, Oahu Transit Services employee Rodney Theodore, what happened.

According to the affidavit, Theodore prevented the suspect from getting off the bus until police could arrive. Officers arrested Kamaile near Liliha and North Kukui streets.

Kamaile was also arrested on a warrant for not showing up for a trial on another sex assault case, which also allegedly took place on a city bus. On Sept. 8, 2002, Kamaile was arrested under suspicion of fondling an 18-year-old woman on a city bus near Kamehameha Highway and Middle Street.

According to the state Criminal Justice Data Center, Kamaile has 11 prior convictions, most of them for misdemeanors and petty misdemeanors that took place on Kauai.