Olshefski faces 20 years for sexual assault

LIHU‘E — A man with a long criminal history faces a sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading no contest to first-degree sexual assault, county prosecutors said.

Nelson Keith Olshefski, who had been one of the Kaua‘i Police Department’s Most Wanted while he was in federal custody on O‘ahu last year, was found guilty by 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe of a single count of first-degree sexual assault on July 14.

His sentencing is scheduled Oct. 13 before Watanabe. Sentencing guidelines mandate she sentence him to a minimum 20-year term of imprisonment with no chance for probation and no chance for a suspended sentence.

The Hawai‘i Paroling Authority will determine the maximum length of imprisonment.

In exchange for his no-contest plea to one count of first-degree sexual assault, a class A felony, two other counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of third-degree sexual assault were dropped, state court records show.

Attorney Rosa Flores represents Olshefski, 34, of Koloa, who is currently incarcerated at the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center in Wailua.

Olshefski’s court history dates back to at least 2004, and includes temporary restraining orders or orders of protection against him filed by five women including the victim in the sex-assault case and her mother.

All were granted by Kaua‘i judges. In 2004 he was convicted of family abuse and given two years probation and 30 days in prison with credit for time served.

Olshefski was found not guilty of family abuse and harassment in 2007.

In 2009 he pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and interfering with the reporting of an emergency, after pleading not guilty earlier, and was sentenced to a year in prison with credit for time served.

County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sam Jajich represented the state at the July 14 change-of-plea proceeding.

• Paul C. Curtis, assistant editor and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.