Man gets 81 years for molesting

HILO » Kona Circuit Judge Elizabeth Strance yesterday sentenced Walter See Kong Ah Sing, 70, to 81 years in prison for molesting young girls, the Hawaii County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Ah Sing, a church minister, was found guilty of eight sex offenses by a jury Sept. 24. The girls were ages 4 to 11 when abused, but some did not come forward for years, and the oldest is now 27, the prosecutor said.

“;Mr. Ah Sing, the evidence in this case was that you isolated your victims, young girls,”; Strance told him. “;You preyed on their loyalty to you and your wife and to their fear of God and on ... their belief that you were a trusted family friend and a church leader,”; she said.

“;The evidence in the trial was that your actions caused them to isolate themselves from their family members, that they've lived in silence with your conduct to them, and that they have suffered and that they continue to suffer today,”; Strance said.

Strance ordered the various sentences to be served back to back rather than at the same time.

Senate sets leadership posts

State Senate Democrats have announced their leaders for the upcoming state Legislature.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has retained her position, but other Senate Democrats will have new positions.

Sen. Roz Baker (D, Honokohau-Makena) lost the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, which controls the state budget and all spending bills.

The committee's top post was given to Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa), who had been Senate vice president. Baker was given chairmanship of the Senate Consumer Protection Committee.

Sen. Brian Taniguchi (D, Manoa) remains as head of the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Russell Kokubun (D, Hilo-Naalehu) was named Senate vice president.

Here are other Senate committee leadership positions:

» Education and Housing: Norman Sakamoto
» Higher Education: Jill Tokuda
» Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs: Clayton Hee
» Economic Development and Technology: Carol Fukunaga
» Labor: Dwight Takamine
» Health: David Ige
» Human Services: Suzanne Chun Oakland
» Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs: J. Kalani English
» Energy and Environment: Mike Gabbard
» Public Safety and Military Affairs: Will Espero
» Tourism: Clarence Nishihara

Lingle and Aiona on trips to Asia

Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James “;Duke”; Aiona will be heading separately to five Asian nations next week to talk up Hawaii as a travel destination just as the state's tourism industry suffers a serious downturn.

Lingle, who has made energy independence a top goal of her second and last term in office, also will be conferring with government officials on renewable energy and technology opportunities.

The trips mark the fifth visit to Asia that Lingle has made since she became governor in 2003. Aiona has made two previous trips to Asia.

Lingle will travel to Bali, Indonesia; Taiwan; and Shanghai, China, for 11 days starting Tuesday.

Aiona will leave the same day to travel to Seoul and Jeju, South Korea, and Tokyo for one week.

Foodbank fundraiser under way

Hawaii Foodbank launched its 15th annual “;Check-Out Hunger”; fundraising campaign in partnership with Kraft Foods, which donated $5,000. The campaign runs through Jan. 13.

To make a donation, shoppers should buy bright green Check-Out Hunger tear-off coupons at participating grocery stores. They can buy either a $2.81 coupon that feeds a child breakfast for a week, a $12.43 coupon which feeds a senior lunch for a month or a $16.84 coupon that feeds a family for a week.

The amount of the coupon will be added to the grocery bill and become a donation to the Hawaii Foodbank.

Participating stores include Times Super Markets on Oahu, Safeway Stores statewide, Tamura's Market at Wahiawa and Hauula, Tamura Superette in Waianae, Tamura's Fine Wine and Liquors on Oahu, Kokua Market Natural Foods Co-op on Oahu, and KTA Super Stores on the Big Island.