Girl’s sex assault
brings 20 years

Yomeo Eieta, 40, gets the maximum
term after a plea bargain

A 40-year-old Micronesian immigrant was sentenced to a maximum 20 years in prison after admitting he abducted and sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl in Waianae on a day he drank two to three cases of beer.

Yomeo Eieta, an unemployed fisherman who recently arrived in the United States and last worked as a pineapple cannery worker, pleaded guilty in July to one count of first-degree assault, a felony punishable by a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop three other charges of first-degree sexual assault, and one count each of third-degree assault and kidnapping.

Circuit Judge Richard Pollack accepted the plea agreement yesterday and admonished the silent Eieta for his conduct and failure to take full responsibility, despite pleading guilty.

"You have committed heinous acts upon the most vulnerable member of our society -- an 8-year-old girl," Pollack said. "You have committed such acts by threatening the child and then using force to accomplish the sexual assault in this case."

He said 20 years will give Eieta time to acknowledge the lasting effects of his actions on the girl and her family and to ensure he receives necessary treatment so that, when released, he will no longer be a danger to society.

According to police, the girl was waiting for her grandmother outside the Waianae Neighborhood Community Center on April 28 when Eieta told her to sit by him. He then grabbed her, led her to a vacant lot across the street and forced her to strip. He slapped her across the face, covered her mouth when she tried to scream and threatened to shoot her if she moved or talked, then sexually assaulted her.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said the girl suffered scratches, bruising of the lips and mouth and bleeding from the attack. He asked the court to agree with the plea agreement and impose the 20-year mandatory term.

The girl's grandmother expressed her wish for Eieta in a brief statement in court.

"It is my hope that the institution that Yomeo's going to go to will provide him with the rehabilitation program that will discipline him, determine what is right and what is wrong in American society and hopefully, he won't hurt anyone else -- youth or adult," said Wilma Keawe, her voice breaking in mid-statement.

Eieta, dressed in blue prison coveralls, declined to address the court, saying through a Chuukese interpreter, "I have nothing to say, your Honor."

Walter Rodby, deputy public defender, said he spoke earlier with his client, who told him that he is concerned for his safety and that incarceration hasn't been easy for him. "It's not supposed to be easy, but essentially he's been labeled at (Oahu Community Correctional Center) and treated extremely harshly," said Rodby. He said Eieta has expressed a desire to serve his time "somewhere that's more peaceful."

Eieta was not specific about how other inmates have treated him, but it's no surprise to other inmates incarcerated along with him what he's been convicted of, Rodby said. Some of his fellow inmates come from the Waianae Coast.

"He's been trying to behave himself and follow the rules," Rodby told the court. Eieta also realizes he needs counseling and is willing to undergo sexual offender and substance abuse treatment, Rodby added. Eieta acknowledges he has a serious drinking problem.

Eieta had admitted that on the day he attacked the girl, he had been drinking since early that morning.

The girl's family went along with the plea agreement and was encouraged that she would not have to relive the assault by having to testify again in a courtroom and be subjected to cross-examination by the defense, Carlisle said.