Sex molestation trial
of Kauai cop begins

Nelson Gabriel is key in an
investigation of Chief George Freitas

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> Police officer Nelson Gabriel, whom sources say is the key figure in the investigation of Kauai Police Chief George Freitas, went on trial yesterday on 20 felony charges stemming from his alleged sexual molestation of a teenage relative.

Gabriel's attorney Michael Green spent much of yesterday questioning the relative about her history of lying to her parents and teachers and a diary in which she expressed hostility toward Gabriel.

Freitas' girlfriend, Elizabeth Going, a former Richmond, Calif., police detective, sat in the back of the courtroom. Going said she would be in court throughout Gabriel's trial.

The Kauai Police Commission on Aug. 10 voted to place Freitas on administrative leave while allegations about him filed by Inspector Melvin Morris, head of the Investigations Division, and Lt. Alvin Seto, head of the youth services bureau, are investigated.

County officials have refused to say anything about the allegations.

Sources say the two senior police officials accused Freitas of blocking an investigation of Gabriel, which Freitas has vehemently denied.

Some sources have said the allegations against Freitas do not involve the case for which Gabriel is on trial. Instead, they said, a female police officer filed a sexual harassment complaint against Gabriel that Freitas refused to investigate.

Freitas has hired former state Attorney General Margery Bronster to represent him.

Bronster has said the Police Commission is violating the law by failing to give Freitas a list of accusations as required in the Kauai County Charter.

Gabriel was indicted in 1999 for fondling his relative between May 1998 and April 1999.

The girl, now 16 and living in a foster home, testified Gabriel repeatedly came into her room at night and touched her with his hands.

A doctor and a nurse who separately examined the girl said there was no sign of sexual molestation, but neither could rule it out as a possibility.

Green spent most of yesterday afternoon going through lies the girl has admitted telling.

"The best excuse is never a good enough excuse without lying," the girl wrote in a school paper Green read to Circuit Judge George Masuoka, who is hearing the case without a jury.

The girl admitted to writing diary entries Green read the court. All were dated before the alleged molestations, and all were filled with anger against Gabriel and the girl's mother. The girl also said she lied about an allegation Gabriel had beaten her with a coat hanger after teachers could find no bruises on her.

Green's cross-examination of the girl was scheduled to resume today.

The trial is expected to last at least through tomorrow.