Maui rape suspect
has criminal past

Sex assault is among 11 charges
a Wailuku man will face Aug. 13

---

By Gary T. Kubota
Maui correspondent

WAILUKU >> A 31-year-old Wailuku man has been indicted in a series of sexual attacks upon women in their homes on Maui.

Rodney S. Lanosa pleaded not guilty yesterday to 11 charges brought against him by a Maui grand jury, including one count of sexual assault, three counts of attempted sexual assault, first-degree robbery and three counts of burglary.

His trial was scheduled for Aug. 13.

Lanosa, also known as Rodney S. Lanoza and Rodney A. Lanoza, was held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

A woman in her 70s reported a rape at 8:20 a.m. on May 19 at her home on Lepoko Street in Wailuku. Personal items were stolen from her.

Authorities said that during a night burglary of a home in Spreckelsville on May 18 and another in Kahului on May 11, a man fondled the women through their clothes and attempted to have sex with them.

Lanosa was arrested May 22 near Kamehameha Schools in Pukalani and charged with burglary of the school building.

According to a bail study filed in court on May 24, Lanosa said he had serious problems with the use of crystal methamphetamine for two years and was interested in undergoing drug treatment.

Last year, he was sentenced on four separate occasions.

He was ordered to serve 10 hours of community service for criminal trespass, 10 days in jail and 25 hours of community service for possession of burglary tools, 20 hours of community service for criminal contempt of court, and 90 days in jail and a year probation on a third-degree assault, the bail study said.

Lanosa has been charged in other incidents in Spreckelsville, including first-degree burglary and motor vehicle theft.

According to a police complaint, Lanosa was in the process of taking a laptop computer from a residence in Spreckelsville on May 17 when he was confronted by the occupant's friend and fled on foot on the beach toward Kahului.

He entered a different property and stole a 1999 Ford Explorer with the key inside the vehicle, police allege.

His bail was set at $30,000 in the May 17 incident.