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By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Gary Anderson, in his backyard, has difficulty expressing
how much he and his family have suffered.

Anderson hopes
to find peace

Stun-gun rape charges against
the theater group founder
are dismissed

---

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Gary Anderson has one wish: To start anew in a small town where he can find some peace for himself and his wife.

His life has been on hold for the last 2 years as he awaited trial after his arrest and indictment in connection with the stun-gun rapes of three Waikiki prostitutes.

Yesterday, Circuit Judge Richard Perkins dismissed all remaining sexual assault charges against Anderson with prejudice, meaning the state cannot reindict him on the same charges.

Anderson was initially indicted on Jan. 28, 1998, on 15 charges stemming from allegations he subdued three prostitutes with a stun gun, sexually assaulted and robbed them on separate occasions between September 1997 and January 1998.

The charges against Anderson, co-founder of the theater group ASATAD -- "All Singing! All Talking! All Dancing!" stunned the local theater community.

"This is not my idea of exoneration obviously, but I will have to accept forfeit from the state prosecutor's office in lieu of that," Anderson said yesterday.

Deputy public defender Todd Eddins, who represented Anderson in all three cases, said his client would have been exonerated at trial.

"Our preference was to prevail on the playing field of the courtroom, but we'll take the forfeit," Eddins said.

One of the cases was dismissed early on. Charges involving the second woman were dismissed in December after she failed to appear for trial twice.

Dismissal of the 10 remaining charges involving the third woman, who has since moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, came after the state requested a third continuance because she could no longer be located.

Perkins said the state had ample opportunity to bring the case to trial and dismissed the charges for lack of prosecution.

The state could not assure the court that the complainant would be present at trial, said Deputy Prosecutor Rom Trader. Trial was to have begun Sept. 11.

The state is deciding whether to ask the court to reconsider or possibly appeal, he said.

Just hours after the dismissal of the charges yesterday, Anderson had difficulty expressing how much he and his family has suffered since the charges arose.

"I can't put into words the devastating effect this has had on my family, my friends, the loss of credibility and ruination of my life's work in theater," said Anderson. "So much has been lost."

He's thousands of dollars in debt to people who helped raise money to post his bail.

He's experienced periods of deep depression, staring at the walls. He spent seven months in 1998 at the Oahu Community Correctional Center during one of the worst periods of prison overcrowding, living and sleeping next to a toilet. "If you weren't humble before you went in, you sure were when you came out."

God, family -- including his wife of 18 years, friends and a "helluva good public defender" is what kept him going, Anderson said.

He will always be grateful to Americorps VISTA, a domestic version of Peace Corps, which gave him a chance after he responded to their ad a year ago. "I reconnected with a humanity I thought I had lost."

Despite the charges hanging over his head, Americorps appointed him state VISTA coordinator for the "I Can Read" program. He devoted the past year to establishing a reading program for grades K to 3 and teaching computer skills to residents of a public housing project in Nanakuli.

Anderson has professed his innocence to this day, Eddins said.