Men arrested in alleged
sex assault on tourist
A Japanese visitor reports
an attack at Hanauma Bay
Police have arrested a 43-year-old Pearl City man for allegedly sexually assaulting a 25-year-old Japanese visitor Sunday in waters off Hanauma Bay.
Police said the suspect befriended the woman and offered to give her snorkeling lessons.
The woman accepted his help, and the suspect then took her into the water and sexually assaulted her about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.
A city park ranger noticed the two people talking after the alleged sexual assault and sensed something was not right, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. Police said that they were talking on the beach.
Costa said the park ranger repeatedly asked the woman if she was OK and if she needed assistance.
"As she (the ranger) was walking away, the woman finally ran right up to the woman (ranger)," Costa said.
The woman told the ranger about the assault, and the ranger summoned police, who arrested the suspect at the beach, Costa said.
Acting Lt. Dennis Kim of the Criminal Investigation Division said sexual assaults have occurred on occasion at Hanauma Bay, as they do at other tourist spots like Waikiki Beach.
But Kim emphasized they are unrelated and that this was not a part of a series of such crimes.
"There's no sexual predator preying on Japanese girls," Kim said.
The suspect, who does not have a prior criminal record in Hawaii, was released yesterday pending investigation.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
