Sex offender gets
jail and probation
HILO >> A Big Island taro grower in Waipio Valley who frequently taught youths about Hawaiian culture was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail and 20 years of probation for sexually assaulting a boy.
Kia Fronda, 59, was charged with first-degree sexual assault on the boy, who was under age 14, and three counts of third-degree sexual assault for touching the boy inappropriately, said Deputy Prosecutor Darren Ching. The events took place last year.
Fronda was sentenced under a law that ensures sex offenders who confess their guilt will serve no more than a year in jail to be followed by probation, Ching said. The offenders must also undergo therapy.
The chief benefit of the expedited sentencing law is that it protects the victim from having to testify to a grand jury and in open court, Ching said.
Being allowed to enter the expedited sentencing process is not automatic, but in Fronda's case it was approved by the boy's court-appointed guardian, the boy's therapist and the boy's mother, Ching said.
The boy's mother, who asked not to be identified, said she hoped the suffering of everyone in the case will be healed and that publicity about the case will help bring to light the prevalence of sexual assault on children.
