LIHU‘E — John Palanca Cruzada was sentenced Wednesday for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2007. The 57-year-old Hanama‘ulu resident received 18 months in jail. This was the maximum allowed with five years probation after entering a no contest
LIHU‘E — John Palanca Cruzada was sentenced Wednesday for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2007.
The 57-year-old Hanama‘ulu resident received 18 months in jail. This was the maximum allowed with five years probation after entering a no contest plea deal on Sept. 13, according to 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe. He also received a $3,000 fine.
The plea deal reduced a first-degree sexual assault to second-degree. Cruzada also pleaded to one count of third-degree sexual assault and received a concurrent one-year sentence. Two other charges of third-degree sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor were dismissed.
Defense attorney Michael Soong said Cruzada is an appropriate candidate for probation, as opposed to an open 10-year prison sentence. He alluded to a clean record, gainful employment and support from friends and community members.
In his statement, Cruzada said he was sorry for what he did, that he has learned his lesson and would not do it again.
Watanabe noted Cruzada’s letters of support, including two ministers, friends, co-workers and an employer. She said this weighed on the sentencing but had to be balanced with the assurance that he would understand the impact of his actions on the victim.
The victim, now 17 years old, and her family were in court for the sentencing. She was 13 when the assaults began, Watanabe said, and there were at least 10 incidents in which some kind of sexual assault occurred.
The family did not wish to speak but presented a letter for County Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Arin to read on their behalf. The letter expressed their desire to see some conclusion to the proceedings in the hope that it would begin the healing process for their daughter.
The letter stated that four years later the once outward teenager is now more fearful and less confident. She hides in public and locks herself in her room when at home.
It concluded with the family considering relocating off-Island in an effort to restore some sort of security and normalcy for their daughter to grow.
Arin pointed out that the victim displays the behavioral patterns of young sexual assault victims, such as crying at the slightest of verbal corrections or altercations. She noted that this incident has destroyed the victim’s sense of trust and sexual development.
Cruzada was a trusted family friend who arranged to drive the victim home from school, and went so far as to drop his own son off at home first, for the opportunity to be alone with the victim and assault her, Arin said.
Were if not for his own wife contacting the victim’s family with her worst fears, Arin said the assaults might have continued.
Watanabe said Cruzada’s statement and letter to the court failed to express any remorse for his crime other than it was a mistake. She said it lacked any acknowledgment of his actions, for the victim, or of the effect it has had on his own family.
Watanabe said a very horrible crime like this must have closure for the victim and also the community. When Cruzada returns from prison in 18 months, she said society must have some degree of certainty that he will not re-offend.
Since his arrest on Dec. 1, 2008, she said Cruzada has not yet registered for therapy. She ordered any treatment to follow an assessment as determined by doctors. The judge also ordered a psychosexual evaluation in the pre-sentencing diagnostic report and said Cruzada must register with the State Sexual Offender Registry.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
