WAIMEA — David Somers, 48, of Waimea, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in jail in connection with a sexual assault against a 68-year-old Kaua’i woman in her home. Somers pleaded guilty May 16 to burglary, unlawful imprisonment and two
WAIMEA — David Somers, 48, of Waimea, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in
jail in connection with a sexual assault against a 68-year-old Kaua’i woman in
her home.
Somers pleaded guilty May 16 to burglary, unlawful imprisonment
and two counts of third-degree sexual assault, all felonies.
Somers had
been free on $60,000 bond until his sentencing.
The crime occurred Nov. 11,
1999, when Somers gained entry into the victim’s home illegally, held her
against her will and, according to Kaua’i County deputy prosecutor Shaylene
Iseri-Carvalho, sexually assaulted the woman, refusing to stop despite the
victim’s pleas.
Somers knew the victim, a retiree who had recently been
widowed.
Iseri-Carvalho asked for the maximum five-year sentence after
informing the court that the victim was severely traumatized.
The deputy
prosecutor also told the court that Somers was a danger to the
community.
In addition, the victim’s son asked the court for the maximum
sentence.
Fifth Circuit Court Judge George M. Masuoka complied, including a
$10,000 fine in the sentence.
Somers was taken into custody
immediately. His actual jail time will be determined in an appearance before
the state Parole Board in six months. According to court documents, Somers had
no previous record. In the 51 sexual assault cases prosecuted by Iseri-Carvalho
from April 1997 to Jan. 1, 2000, 37 offenders have been convicted and
sentenced.
“We have the same problems here as anywhere else vis a vis
sexual assault,” Iseri-Carvalho said Wednesday, the day after Somers was
jailed.
Iseri-Carvalho advised people with concerns about sexual offenders
who may have been released from the state corrections system to visit the
Kaua’i Police Department in Lihu’e, where information regarding all sex
offenders in Hawai’i is available to the public.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken
can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net
