LIHU‘E — Long since moved on, a sex assault victim found justice after a decade of silence. Jonathan Espejo Reyes, 52, was sentenced to two concurrent five-year prison terms on Wednesday in 5th Circuit Court. The charges related to 21
LIHU‘E — Long since moved on, a sex assault victim found justice after a decade of silence.
Jonathan Espejo Reyes, 52, was sentenced to two concurrent five-year prison terms on Wednesday in 5th Circuit Court. The charges related to 21 counts of sexual assault against his niece in 2002.
Now a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, the victim was a minor at the time of the sexual assaults. She and her parents lived with grandparents in Lihu‘e, along with extended family including Reyes, who is married to the sister of the victim’s mother.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Arin read a letter from the victim, which stated that she was threatened to keep her silence on what was happening. She broke that silence for fear that her younger cousins might now become victims themselves.
Arin continued reading the letter, which detailed the life of fear that the victim lived during her childhood. She could not sleep without the radio and a night-light as every noise made her afraid. She could not shower without taking precautions, which made her feel paranoid.
The assault happened at night when people in the home were asleep, Arin said. The defendant was an uncle and took advantage of his niece, as someone she was raised to listen to and obey.
The letter said the series of assaults made the victim feel “paranoid, worthless and nonexistent.”
The victim, despite her scarring, has since moved on with her life and has turned to the court for some closure, said Judge Kathleen Watanabe.
After reading the letter and another from the victim’s mother, Watanabe said it is clear that the victim will not forget what has happened despite her courage to move on with her life.
Reyes was arraigned on Aug. 13, 2012. The original charges included two counts of sexual assault against a minor, 15 counts of first-degree sexual assault, and four counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault.
He pleaded no contest to two counts of amended third-degree sexual assault on Jan. 2, 2013. Both are class C felony charges and each has a maximum five-year prison term.
Private attorney Craig De Costa said the defense had issues with statements in the pre-sentence reports. The court granted his request that the letter from the victim’s mother not be included in the defendant’s parole file.
De Costa asked the court to consider a five-year term of probation with a year in jail, minus one day.
It would keep him from landing on the Department of Justice deportation priority list for offenders with a year or more incarceration.
Watanabe said that the plea deal was generous and denied the request for a deferred sentence. She said the court could have sentenced defendant to consecutive five-year terms.
The lack of a criminal history was one factor that the state considered in not asking for consecutive five-year prison sentences. The other was the amount of time that passed since the crimes occurred.
Arin said another consideration was to avoid putting the victim through the additional trauma of having to testify at a trial. The sentencing is consistent with that potential at trial, she said.
