LIHU‘E — A pre-trial hearing will be held today for a man charged with sexually assaulting, kidnapping and committing other crimes against a 24-year-old woman. Leonard Alpeche Jr. is expected to appear at 3 p.m. in 5th Circuit Court before
LIHU‘E — A pre-trial hearing will be held today for a man charged with sexually assaulting, kidnapping and committing other crimes against a 24-year-old woman.
Leonard Alpeche Jr. is expected to appear at 3 p.m. in 5th Circuit Court before Judge Kathleen Watanabe. His trail is set for 9 a.m. on April 11.
Alpeche, 27, faces 16 charges in connection with the sexual assault of a Kapa‘a woman. They include three counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, one count of kidnapping and 11 counts of second-degree extortion. Kaua‘i police arrested him on Jan. 5.
The woman contended that Alpeche used a fake identity to befriend her on Facebook in August, pretending to be her friend’s sister. She said Alpeche posed as a woman and convinced her to send him modeling pictures to help her land a modeling gig. She said she was then lured to a park where she was told a photographer would take pictures of her. If she didn’t follow through, Alpeche allegedly threatened to spread her modeling pictures all over the Internet. She said the photographer, whom she later identified as Alpeche, forced her to have sex with him.
A county press release published after his arrest alleged that Alpeche had used the Internet and aliases to develop relationships with potential victims ranging from 13 to 27 years old.
Alpeche is being held in lieu of $465,000 bail.
